Jim has stepped down after 30 years in executive IT leadership to return to his faculty appointment at UCLA and his research roots in AI, ML, intelligent systems, and data science in manufacturing. He has accepted an appointment as Special Advisor on Smart Manufacturing and Data Science in the Office of Research and Creative Activities. As a co-founder of the U.S. Smart Manufacturing Initiative, Jim will expand activities that continue to define, build, and shape industry adoption for manufacturing and environmental sustainability, while also working with UCLA on its Data Science initiatives. Jim will remain Principal Investigator with oversight of the Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CESMII), the national Manufacturing USA Public Private Partnership sponsored by the Department of Energy and based at UCLA.
Jim will draw upon research and administrative experiences that span 40 years. At The Ohio State University, he was an early researcher developing AI in manufacturing, specializing in diagnostics and control. He was ‘first CIO’ at UCLA and OSU leading the scaled production uses of the internet and early ERP systems. He oversaw the timely buildouts of high performance research computing resources and expansions of data, computation, and cyberinfrastructure capabilities. Jim was on CENIC (Corporation of Education and Network Initiatives in California) Board, responsible for networking the State’s educational and research institutions and the former CICnet (Corporation Institutional Cooperation) Board that provided network connectivity to the Big Ten. Jim was involved with the startup of Internet2 and National Lambda Rail. As CENIC Board Chair he led the expansion of network connectivity to the K-12 schools in California.
Jim led/co-led the formation of UCLA’s first Office of Information Technology and its transition to the Office of Advanced Research Computing, the UCLA Board on Privacy and Data Protection, the Office of the Chief Privacy Officer, and the UCLA Institute for Digital Research and Education (IDRE). Jim oversaw UCLA’s first IT governance structure as a joint Academic Senate and executive administration process and is focused on national Public Private Partnership structures for Smart Manufacturing. Jim has testified in Washington, D.C on digital copyright and security breach legislation and has worked to protect fair use. As data and partnership-based research and commercial interests have expanded, Jim has continued to engage on national digital priorities.