Hoit Named NC State’s Vice Chancellor for Information Technology

Dr. Marc I. Hoit has been named vice chancellor for information technology at North Carolina State University, a new position established to develop and execute a progressive information technology strategy for the university. As NC State’s chief information officer, Hoit will report to Chancellor James L. Oblinger, who announced the selection today.

Hoit will direct the work of more than 300 professional and support staff and oversee a budget in excess of $40 million. He will have overall responsibility for research, academic, and administrative IT activities, which historically have been collaborative but organizationally separate at NC State.

Hoit will partner with both the vice chancellor for finance and business and the provost to ensure NC State’s continued technological leadership as a flagship institution of the University of North Carolina system; as a primary economic engine for the state; and as a national and international leader in instruction, research, extension, engagement and economic development.

“I look forward to working with my new colleagues at NC State and facilitating the use of technology throughout the fabric of the university,” Hoit said. “Flexible, powerful and innovative technology support and services provide researchers, staff and students an environment that encourages collaboration and fosters innovation and discovery. The future of education, research and economic development runs through our information systems.”

Hoit comes to NC State from the University of Florida, where he held a number of academic positions over 24 years, serving as a tenured professor of civil engineering, associate dean in the College of Engineering and most recently interim associate provost and chief information officer for the university. In this last position, he was responsible for centralized information technology operations, including computer and network services, academic technologies, high performance computing, Web administration, identity management services, and information policy.

Hoit earned a bachelor of science in interdisciplinary engineering from Purdue University, and both a master’s and Ph.D. in structural engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

He has conducted extensive research in the application of information technology to civil engineering. His research led to the development of the Bridge Software Institute, a research institute established in 2000 to maintain and enhance the University of Florida’s bridge analysis software programs used by engineers worldwide. One those programs, FB-Multiplier, has been selected by the Federal Highway Administration for use on federally funded highway bridge designs.

Hoit has been the principal investigator on research contracts and grants totaling more than $6.2 million since 1989. He has served on four National Science Foundation proposal review panels and is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Society of Civil Engineering, the American Society of Engineering Education and the American Institute of Steel Construction. He is the author of Computer Assisted Structural Analysis and Modeling, and has contributed articles and reviews to numerous scientific journals.

Hoit received a Distinguished Faculty Award from the University of Florida in 2000 and the President’s Award from the Structural Engineering Institute in 2008.