Reynolds named U.Va.'s chief information officer

Staff Report

Dr. Robert E. Reynolds, a physician and senior U.Va. administrator, was named vice president and chief information officer on Oct. 23, pending approval of the Board of Visitors.

Reynolds has held the position on an interim basis for 18 months, while a national search was conducted. At the same time, he has continued as vice provost for the Health System, where he has been a member of the administration since 1988, and as William Hobson Professor of Information Sciences, with academic appointments in internal medicine and health evaluation sciences.

"We have been very pleased with Bob Reynolds' leadership during this interim period," said U.Va. President John T. Casteen III. "The University continues to be among the nation's front runners in its technology infrastructure and in the ways our faculty and staff are using new technologies to improve their work. Bob's understanding of the issues involved, his experience in long-range planning, and his ability to bring the right people together to tackle problems have been important to our success in this area."

As vice president, Reynolds will take the lead in strategic planning for technology infrastructure and applications, making specific proposals to implement those plans, and facilitating the coordination of technology-related activity across the University.

The Information Technology and Communications (ITC) staff of 230 is responsible for a wide range of activities, among them the University's high-speed fiber-optic network to dormitories, classrooms, libraries and offices; the telephone system; a central information "warehouse" of digitized administrative data; a complex system of computer servers; support for departmental computing operations; training for faculty, students and employees; and development of advanced technologies and applications.

Throughout his career, Reynolds has been involved in the design, implementation, and enhancement of computerized health information systems. Before coming to U.Va., he served for seven years as associate dean for administration and hospital affairs at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

He has been a frequent consultant and adviser for the medical informatics programs of the National Library of Medicine and its Integrated Academic Information Management systems program. At U.Va., he was instrumental in developing the collaborative Health Sciences-ITC academic computing center and in promoting the formation of a new department of health evaluation sciences in the School of Medicine.

Along with degrees from Yale University and Harvard Medical School, Reynolds holds a doctorate in public health/medical care administration from Johns Hopkins.