Luther College hires new Information Technology Director

Posted: Tue, Sep 25, 2018 3:57 PM

Luther College has named Mark Franz the new executive director of Information Technology Services. Franz replaces Paul Mattson, who has transitioned into a teaching role at the college.

Among his duties, Franz will oversee the operations and budget for ITS, working across the campus on IT risk and information security practices. He also works with other services, such as the document center, mail center, campus internet and software development.

Franz comes to Luther from a job as the vice president for information technology at Fontbonne University in St. Louis, Missouri. He was a member of the university leadership team, where he provided guidance on technology implementation across campus and contributed to the decision-making process in other issues regarding the university. He created guidelines for appropriate use of technology, maintained a plan for disaster recovery and systems backup and created strategic and tactical plans for integrating technology. In this role, he had managerial, budgetary, technical and personnel responsibilities.

For nearly 20 years, Franz served as the director of instructional and information technology at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. In this position, he developed technology plans, helped faculty with updating teaching technology and worked to create network layouts and wiring strategies for new construction and remodeling projects.