Gaspare LoDuca has been appointed MIT’s vice president for information systems and technology (IS&T) and chief information officer, effective Aug. 18. Currently vice president for information technology and CIO at Columbia University, LoDuca has held IT leadership roles in or related to higher education for more than two decades. He succeeds Mark Silis, who led IS&T from 2019 until 2024, when he left MIT to return to the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the San Francisco Bay area.
Executive Vice President and Treasurer Glen Shor announced the appointment today in an email to MIT faculty and staff.
“I believe that Gaspare will be an incredible asset to MIT, bringing wide-ranging experience supporting faculty, researchers, staff, and students and a highly collaborative style,” says Shor. “He is eager to start his work with our talented IS&T team to chart and implement their contributions to the future of information technology at MIT.”
LoDuca will lead the IS&T organization and oversee MIT’s information technology infrastructure and services that support its research and academic enterprise across student and administrative systems, network operations, cloud services, cybersecurity, and customer support. As co-chair of the Information Technology Governance Committee, he will guide the development of IT policy and strategy at the Institute. He will also play a key role in MIT’s effort to modernize its business processes and administrative systems, working in close collaboration with the Business and Digital Transformation Office.
“Gaspare brings to his new role extensive experience leading a complex IT organization,” says Provost Cynthia Barnhart, who served as one of Shor's advisors during the search process. “His depth of experience, coupled with his vision for the future state of information technology and digital transformation at MIT, are compelling, and I am excited to see the positive impact he will have here.”
“As I start my new role, I plan to learn more about MIT’s culture and community to ensure that any decisions or changes we make are shaped by the community’s needs and carried out in a way that fits the culture. I’m also looking forward to learning more about the research and work being done by students and faculty to advance MIT’s mission. It’s inspiring, and I’m eager to support their success,” says LoDuca.
In his role at Columbia, LoDuca has overseen the IT department, headed IT governance committees for school and department-level IT functions, and ensured the secure operation of the university’s enterprise-class systems since 2015. During his tenure, he has crafted a culture of customer service and innovation — building a new student information system, identifying emerging technologies for use in classrooms and labs, and creating a data-sharing platform for university researchers and a grants dashboard for principal investigators. He also revamped Columbia’s technology infrastructure and implemented tools to ensure the security and reliability of its technology resources.
Before joining Columbia, LoDuca was the technology managing director for the education practice at Accenture from 1998 to 2015. In that role, he helped universities to develop and implement technology strategies and adopt modern applications and systems. His projects included overseeing the implementation of finance, human resources, and student administration systems for clients such as Columbia University, University of Miami, Carnegie Mellon University, the University System of Georgia, and Yale University.
“At a research institution, there’s a wide range of activities happening every day, and our job in IT is to support them all while also managing cybersecurity risks. We need to be creative and thoughtful in our solutions, and consider the needs and expectations of our community,” he says.
LoDuca holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Michigan State University. He and his wife are recent empty nesters, and are in the process of relocating to Boston.
