Mark Askren, Senior Advisor to the President and former Chief Information Officer and Vice President for Information Technology, has received the 2019 Community Leadership Award from EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing higher education through the use of information technology.
The Community Leadership Award recognizes EDUCAUSE members for exemplary and extensive community leadership in the field of higher education information technology; demonstrating vision, knowledge and inclusiveness; and building cross-institutional, profession-wide communities that promote professional growth, personal commitment and teamwork.

Mark joined the University of Nebraska in 2009, providing critical leadership for information technology in his role as Vice Chancellor and CIO at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and then additionally as Vice President of Information Technology for the University of Nebraska system. During his tenure at Nebraska, Mark’s leadership has been truly transformational, as he led the organization through its “OneIT” initiative, bringing four independent IT organizations into a single unified division while realizing significant cost savings for the university.
One colleague observed, “Mark is incredibly balanced in his leadership abilities…His focus on the big picture brought stability to the organization, and his ability to create shared meaning is what allowed staff throughout our division to understand the vision and path forward.”
For more information about the Community Leadership Award, visit the EDUCAUSE website.