< Cabinet Members and Deans

The Vice President for Information Services and Technology and Chief Information Officer provides leadership for strategic planning in the acquisition, use, and growth of Rensselaer’s campuswide information resources, services, and technology to support education, research, and administrative activities.   

John Kolb ’79 received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Rensselaer.  A licensed professional engineer, Kolb’s Rensselaer career spans over 30 years.  He previously served as dean, Computing and Information Services; assistant dean, Engineering; head, Core Engineering; and director, Engineering Computing Services.  Kolb has taught courses in Engineering Science, Management, and IT.  He is a member of the NYSERNET.org and NYSERNET.net Boards; co-chair, University of the State of NY Technology Policy and Practices Council; member of the boards of Internet2, American Society for Engineering Education, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, former chair, CIO Council of the Capital Region Business-Higher Education Roundtable, and former board member, Children’s Museum of Science and Technology,  and past recipient of the Boeing Outstanding Engineering Educator Award.  Kolb was instrumental in attracting and implementing the $100M Computational Center for Nanotechnology Innovations (CCNI) and the NYS High Performance Computing Consortium (HPC²).