Q. How did you first become interested in tech?
Growing up I wanted to be an electrical engineer. I went to Brooklyn Technical High School in New York, and my dad owned a radio and TV repair shop. So you can say I’ve been a techie since way back.
Q. As chief information officer, what is your role here at Anderson?
My job is to foreshadow technology needs of students, faculty and staff here at Anderson and then to articulate these needs as appropriate investments. This is of course all done to help enable continued innovation at Anderson.
Q. You received your MBA from Michigan Ross and returned to UC Berkeley Haas for a certificate from the CIO Institute. How does it feel to be back in the higher education space?
I’m really excited to be at Anderson and to see the opportunities that lie ahead for leveraging technology here. My wife is an Anderson alumna (Antoinette Reynolds Chandler ’95, chief deputy treasurer of San Diego County), so she’s happy and will probably be my most engaged critic.
Q. What are your thoughts on exposing students to technology at an earlier age?
I think it’s important to teach and expose kids to technology at an early age. There is a certain language and culture around technology that many kids are getting left out of. It’s a different world than the one that I grew up in. It’s a digital world where one’s ability to navigate therein determines, in too many cases, life outcomes for students and adults. Early exposure also helps to demystify technology. This is important because it is at this point that you start to learn how to extract optimum value out of technology.