Aylward to Retire as UW VP for Information Technology; Chavez Named Interim VP

Robert Aylward, who has guided the University of Wyoming through a period of tremendous technological advances over more than a quarter of a century, will retire as UW’s chief information officer and vice president for information technology, effective Nov. 15.

The appointment of Jen Chavez, currently the deputy chief information officer in the Division of Information Technology, as interim vice president for IT was approved last week by the UW Board of Trustees.

“We are all grateful for Robert’s great leadership of Information Technology during what has been a time of incredible change in the field,” UW President Ed Seidel says. “We wish him the very best in his retirement, and we are confident Jen will continue leading IT effectively as we prepare for a search to identify Robert’s successor.”

“It has been immensely rewarding to establish UW’s technology infrastructure, to continually develop it and to watch its remarkable evolution over the years. It has been a true privilege to have worked at UW,” Aylward says. “I am forever grateful to have worked with such wonderful colleagues over the years, all of whom have been committed to student success and developing UW into the quality institution it is today.”

Aylward earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and an MBA from UW. After working as a communications engineer with US West, he was hired by the university in 1986 as the project manager to implement the university’s first institutionally owned telephone system, first video network and first data network.

“I could not have fathomed how rapidly and how profoundly technology would develop,” Aylward says. “High-speed networks then were in the low kilobits per second. The university’s Internet connection, which after 1986 was a radio line to Colorado State University, operated at 1.5 megabits per second -- that was for the entire university’s internet connection. There wasn’t email, there weren’t cell phones, and the state-of-the-art communications tool was the fax machine.”

From 1996-97, Aylward left UW and worked for MCI Worldcom, at the time when the internet and the World Wide Web were taking off. He was an internet specialist on the company’s Global Internet Solutions Team, its only employee in Wyoming.

Aylward returned to UW in September 1997 as the director of systems, telecommunications and operations. In January 1998, under the presidency of Phil Dubois, Aylward became the vice president and CIO and has held that position since.

“I could not have asked for a more fulfilling career than the one I have had at the University of Wyoming. UW has been an exceptional and professionally gratifying place to work. I am deeply grateful for the opportunities and experiences I have had during my tenure,” Aylward says. “I have been extremely fortunate to have had outstanding employees who have truly made IT successful over the years. I am proud of the contributions IT has made in supporting the university’s mission, the university’s success and the students who have passed through the university’s doors.”

Chavez holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in higher education administration, both from UW. She began her career at UW in 1998 and has held positions as accounting associate-senior, telecommunications technical consultant, supervisor of telecommunication services, project manager, director of application and database services, and director of enterprise IT infrastructure and security. She became deputy CIO for information technology in spring 2020.