Jason Parkhill has been named the College’s next chief information technology officer (CITO) and will begin on August 1.

Parkhill possesses 25 years of deep and varied experience at liberal arts institutions across all areas of information technology. He has spent the past 15 years at Colby College, where he worked collaboratively to advance the college’s mission through the application of innovative information technology systems. He is currently Colby’s interim chief information officer, overseeing all aspects of the college’s information technology office. He has played a critical role in numerous major strategic initiatives, including serving as a co-lead on Colby’s data governance action team, leading a student information system readiness assessment, and serving on the advisory board for Colby’s recently founded Davis Artificial Intelligence Institute. Parkhill also continues to play an instrumental role in supporting students, faculty, and staff members in the college’s response to the pandemic; works closely with the faculty chair to convene Colby’s faculty information technology committee; and is involved in the planning of several major building and renovation projects at Colby. 

 In addition to his interim appointment, Parkhill was also Colby's director of academic information technology services.  In that capacity, he worked closely with members of the college community to assess and expand the use of technology services to ensure they are supporting the college’s educational objectives. He has advanced the use of high-performance computing in academic applications, expanded video and multimedia instruction in the classroom, and partnered with faculty on several successful proposals for new initiatives. He has also collaborated on a number of successful grant and gift proposals, including a National Science Foundation grant that helped expand Colby’s research network and a Mellon Foundation grant that supported environmental humanities. 

Prior to his time at Colby, Parkhill spent 10 years at Washington & Jefferson College, where he oversaw instructional technology initiatives, directed the institution’s help desk operations, and helped implement a system to gather data for course evaluations. He also participates in numerous professional organizations, including as the current chair of the board of directors for the Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges and a member of the steering committee for the Partnership for Liberal Arts Collaboration and Exploration. Jason holds a B.A. in history from The College of Wooster and an M.A. in leadership studies from the University of Southern Maine.

“Beyond his impressive resume and list of professional accomplishments, Jason demonstrated to me and the numerous campus community members with whom he met during the search process that he’s a curious, creative thinker with a passion for the intersection of technology and education,” says Provost and Dean of the Faculty Sarah Willie-LeBreton. “His colleagues with whom I spoke lauded his collaborative spirit and commitment to supporting the institutional mission. I’m excited about the contributions he’ll make to Swarthmore.”

Parkhilland his wife, Angela, are Pennsylvania natives, and will be moving back to the state along with their son, Tristan, and daughter, Jennie.