Dr. William Stead
Dr. William W. Stead, associate vice chancellor for Health Affairs and director of VUMC's informatics center, has also been named to the new position of University Information Architect as part of a reorienting of Vanderbilt's information technology (IT).
In his new role, Stead will oversee university-wide planning and policy formulation for information technology. His responsibilities will include working with the academic and administrative leadership in both the university and the medical center to identify common standards for information technology, overseeing long-range planning and forecasting, creating university-industry strategic partnerships, and developing funding and service models. Stead will continue to serve as the chief information officer for the medical center.
A national search is also under way for an associate provost for information technology, who will take part in the university-wide planning efforts and encourage interdisciplinary technology initiatives in teaching and research.
"As complex as Vanderbilt is, it is essential that we make wise investments of central funds in technology, programs and infrastructure that cut across organizational lines," said Chancellor Joe B. Wyatt. "The best way to do that is to have a strong planning process that takes advantage of Vanderbilt's decentralized structure, which encourages entrepreneurship, but adds the benefits of large-scale, institutional investments.
"As a leader of the Information Technology Group, Bill has already worked for years with Provost Burish and a number of faculty and staff members to help develop a strategic vision for IT at Vanderbilt."
"Collaborative projects among faculty of different schools are one of the strengths of the Vanderbilt culture," said Stead. "I look forward to the opportunity to work with colleagues from all segments of the university community to plan for the common information infrastructure that we need to take these efforts to the next level."
Stead came to Vanderbilt in 1991 from Duke University Medical Center, where he served as director of medical center information systems. In addition to his current administrative appointments, he is a professor of medicine and professor of biomedical informatics. Under his leadership, Vanderbilt's division of biomedical informatics has come to be recognized as an international leader in integrating information technology and health care.
Stead is also editor of the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, and is a founding fellow of both the American College of Medical Informatics and the American Institute for Engineering in Biology and Medicine.