Appointment of Professor Chrysanthos Dellarocas as Associate Provost for Digital Learning and Innovation
From Dr. Jean Morrison, University Provost and Chief Academic Officer
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Chrysanthos (Chris) Dellarocas, Richard C. Shipley Professor of Management in the Department of Information Systems in the Questrom School of Business, to the newly-created role of Associate Provost for Digital Learning and Innovation, effective immediately.
In this role, Chris will serve as the senior officer responsible for advancing activities and strategies that will enhance education at Boston University through the use of digital technologies. His appointment to this new leadership position signals the importance that President Brown and I place on BU’s need to make significant progress in the area of digital learning. Chris will report directly to me and serve as a member of Provost’s Cabinet.
Chris has served as the Director of the Digital Learning Initiative (DLI) since its inception in 2013 as one of the core recommendations of the Council on Educational Technology and Learning Innovation (CETLI). As Director of the DLI, Chris has led BU’s involvement as part of the edX consortium, including the development of BU’s first Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), and has facilitated campus-wide experiments in digital learning through the CETLI/DLI grants program.
The creation of the role of Associate Provost for Digital Learning and Innovation allows us to coordinate and provide strengthened leadership for a number of existing efforts. First, the Digital Learning Initiative will report to the Associate Provost for Digital Learning and Innovation. Second, the Center for Teaching & Learning (formerly the Center for Excellence and Innovation in Teaching) will report jointly to the Associate Provost for Digital Learning and Innovation and the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Affairs. Led by its new Director Matthew Trevett-Smith, the Center for Teaching & Learning is crucial to Boston University’s capacity to develop technology-enhanced learning and remains integral to our broader efforts to support our faculty in enhancing the quality of teaching and learning.
Third, the Educational Technology team in Information Services and Technology (IS&T) will now report to the Associate Provost for Digital Learning and Innovation, with a secondary reporting line to Vice President Tracy Schroeder for technology service and support matters. Its close collaboration with other areas of IS&T, such as the IT Help Center, will continue, as will its role in facilitating teaching and learning technology governance.
Finally, through essential partnership with Metropolitan College (MET) Dean Tanya Zlateva, the Office of Distance Education in MET will forge a close collaboration with the Associate Provost for Digital Learning and Innovation to align strategies that will ensure that Boston University has optimized our capacity to support and enhance our capabilities in the digital arena.
In addition to his experience leading the DLI, Chris is uniquely positioned to catalyze innovative use of emerging educational technologies, as he is an internationally known scholar in the fields of online reputation and social media and has served as Chair of the Department of Information Systems in Questrom. Chris holds Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Diploma in Electrical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece. Prior to his appointment at Boston University in 2009, he taught at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and at the R.H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. Prior to his academic career, Chris was a management consultant with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and McKinsey.
Please join me in congratulating Chris on his new role. His appointment provides us with a critical opportunity to boost our momentum, as we seek to establish BU as an emerging leader in digital teaching and learning.