Rafael Espinosa III, a veteran higher education technology executive, has been named Santa Clara University’s chief information officer (CIO), effective Nov 7.
Espinosa joins the SCU community from California State University, Stanislaus, where he served as the chief information officer and associate vice president of technology since 2018. He will join President Julie Sullivan’s Cabinet, and report to Wilson Garone, vice president of finance and administration.
With a distinguished career spanning over two decades, Espinosa brings a wealth of experience in information technology, research administration, and strategic leadership.
Among his professional accomplishments, Espinosa:
- developed a campus-wide technology plan that aligned with the university’s strategic plan
- developed and implemented an OIT (Office of Information Technology) governance model that included participation and input from faculty, staff, students, and administration
- worked with university administration to customize and implement the university-wide ERP–Workday human resources management system
- upgraded university infrastructure and cybersecurity, migrated University systems to the Cloud, and migrated On-Prem systems to a new data center.
Before Stanislaus State, Espinosa spent two decades at the University of Chicago, where he worked as a molecular cytogeneticist, IT professional, research executive director, and administrative executive director.
“Rafael’s extensive experience uniquely positions him to lead Santa Clara University’s information technology division and our campus into the future. We welcome him to the Bronco community,” said Julie Sullivan, president of Santa Clara University.
“Technology plays a critical role in teaching, learning and research at Santa Clara University,” said Wilson Garone, vice president of finance and administration. “Rafael will be a great asset to SCU and will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of our digital landscape and ensuring seamless connectivity for our students, faculty and staff.”
At Santa Clara, Espinosa will lead the University’s information technology division and provide strategic and operational leadership in all aspects of information technology planning.