Core Leadership Team
Learn more about the Core Leadership Team behind the Student Activity Hub (and the overarching Common Solutions Collaborative initiative).
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Vince Kellen, Ph.D. - Chief Information Officer
Vince Kellen is the Chief Information Officer for the University of California San Diego, as well as a member of the Chancellor's Cabinet, and Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer's senior management team. UC San Diego is recognized as a top 15 university world-wide and 7th best public university in the world, with over $1.1 billion in annual research funding, 36,000 students, 16 Nobel laureates who have taught on its campus and 161 faculty with national Academy memberships.
Vince's recent work has been in the areas of student success and learning analytics and application of advanced technology in higher education. Vince is a recipient of the CIO Magazine “Top 100” award in 2007 and 2014, was one of InformationWeek’s “Chiefs of the Year” in 2013, received the Computerworld “Honors Laureate” award in 2013, and was one of four recipients selected globally for Dell’s 2012 “Transformational CIO” award. Vince has authored more than 220 articles, four books and more than 150 presentation on IT topics and is a Fellow with Cutter Consortium, a leading IT industry think tank, where he writes on digital transformation and data and analytics topics.
Vince is a Board of Directors member for IMS Global and has served on advisory boards for Apple, Microsoft, Dell, SAP, AT&T and Blackboard. He was previously CIO and Senior Vice Provost at University of Kentucky and CIO at DePaul University. Before his tenure in higher education, Dr. Kellen was an IT strategy consultant working with Fortune 500 firms on marketing and CRM digital transformations. Vince has taught graduate and undergraduate courses on IT strategy, information strategy, and enterprise systems at DePaul University and University of Kentucky. He earned his Ph.D. in computer science, an M.S. degree in information systems, and a B.A. degree in communications all from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois.
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Kevin Chou - Deputy Chief Information Officer
As Deputy Chief Information Officer for the University of California San Diego, Kevin Chou oversees all enterprise systems in support of the university’s educational and research mission. He serves as a member of the Information Technology Services Senior Management Team, drives multi-institutional collaborations on the adoption of IT solutions incubated at UC San Diego and continues to direct the Enterprise Systems Renewal program, a multi-year initiative working to modernize the entirety of UC San Diego’s software portfolio.
Prior to his current role at UC San Diego, Kevin was the senior director of IT initiatives, responsible for the creation of ITS through the unification of 13 distinct IT organizations. He previously served as the director of Research and Advancement Information Services, where he digitized UC San Diego’s pre-award processes now responsible for its $1.6 billion research enterprise and implemented the donor management system that powered UC San Diego’s $3 billion fundraising campaign.
Specializing in intellectual property and licensed to practice law in California, Kevin earned his Juris Doctor from the University of San Diego and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego.
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Brett Pollak - Senior Director of Workplace Technology Services
Brett Pollak is an accomplished technology professional with over two decades of experience in developing and implementing innovative IT solutions. Currently, Brett serves as the Senior Director of Workplace Technology Services at the University of California San Diego, where he oversees a diverse portfolio of technology groups, including: Data Warehouse, Analytics, Predictive Technologies, Email, Service Desk, Field Support, Endpoint Management, Enterprise Content Management, Web Technologies, and Integrated Collaboration Services.
With a strong background in analytics, machine learning, data warehousing, cloud services, project management, ITIL, ITSM, service management, customer engagement, e-commerce, usability, accessibility, user interface design, content management systems, application portals, mobile strategy, mobile frameworks, responsive web design, integrated email, webcasts, and public speaking, Brett has successfully led various teams and projects in his tenure at UC San Diego and SAIC. His dedication to providing outstanding customer service and implementing innovative solutions has earned him numerous awards, such as the Larry L. Sautter Gold and Silver Awards for Innovation in Information Technology.
Before joining the UC San Diego, Brett held a pivotal role as Corporate Web Team Manager at SAIC for nearly seven years. In this position, he managed a department of 40 employees, including web content developers, user interface designers, programmers, project managers, and team leads, and was responsible for the budget and customer satisfaction. He focused on providing the best possible user experience on the intranet by establishing user-centered design processes for all websites and applications developed and maintained by the Corporate Web Team.