Lisa Davis

Chief Information Officer, Georgetown University
Age: 51
Hometown: Baltimore, Md.
Time at Georgetown: 2 years, 4 months

What drew you to your field?
I have a love of mathematics and an interest in computers. When I was looking for a university, I was interested in computer engineering, and there were only six schools in the United States that offered it at the time, and — don’t hold this against me — I chose Syracuse University.

You’ve worked at the Department of Defense; what drew you to Georgetown afterwards?
After having worked for 20-some years in the Department of Defense and finishing my career with three years in the Department of Justice, what drew me to Georgetown was, after having completed a career in government, I was looking for my next opportunity. With the pace of change and the disruption of technology in higher education, I thought Georgetown would be a perfect place for me to go next. 

How has the rapid advancement of technology in recent years affected the scope of your work?
Certainly the pace of change requires us to be much more nimble, flexible and responsive. The many types of change, be it social, mobile or on the cloud — the notion that we can be computing at any time and any place has really allowed us to focus on innovation. It has also forced us to change the way information technology is structured and managed in order for us to be responsive and to leverage these technologies.

Does the university adequately support your department?
I’m not going to say that we couldn’t use more funding; the constrained budget certainly makes it more difficult to get the job done, and it forces us to strive for efficiency within IT so we can reinvest in innovation. Could we use more funding? Of course, but there’s not a department that would say otherwise; the resources that we have need to be balanced across the entire university.

Can you describe a memorable moment you’ve had since coming to Georgetown?
I’m always inspired by the students, and they keep me going every day. I remember kids finally lying on Healy Lawn because we had Wi-Fi up and running on the lawn. Another memorable moment is when over 100 female students poured into the classroom for our inaugural GU Women Who Code meeting. 

What is the biggest challenge you face in your position?
I think the biggest challenge is finding the resources to keep pace with the demand with technology. Also, students understand the technology. We talk about the designing the future university, but we also need to pay attention to enabling and supporting the faculty to leverage technology in the classroom as well.

Is there a change you’d like to see on campus pertaining to IT?
I think I’d like to see the campuses better understand the value of technology and how we can leverage our services across the institution to offer better services, better pricing and better capabilities to our students, faculty and alumni.

What’s something that you know now that you wish you’d known in college?
I wish I’d known the power of networking and relationships. When we’re young, we don’t realize how small some things are, and we take risks, burn bridges, but any field you end up in will be a small community. Understand that people you don’t think you’ll have to deal with again will likely come full circle, and you’ll likely have to work with them again in the future. I think it shows the importance of networking and not burning bridges.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
I think balance is very important. I’m a fitness fanatic — I work out six or seven days a week, so fitness and health are very important to me. I also love playing with my children, who are both soccer and lacrosse stars, so family is also very important in my life.

What would you be doing if you weren’t in IT? Do you have a dream job?
I always thought I’d end up in international relations, get my law degree and combine that with my technology degree, but after 26 years in government, that didn’t seem feasible anymore.

Interview by Alexander Brown