UTEP Appoints Luis Hernandez as Vice President for Information Resources
Last Updated on July 21, 2020 at 12:00 AM
Originally published July 21, 2020
By UC Staff
UTEP Communications
The University of Texas at El Paso has appointed Luis Hernandez as vice president for information resources, effective July 27, 2020.
Hernandez will oversee the University’s information resources support services, including the departments of Enterprise Computing, Telecommunication Infrastructure, Technology Support, the Information Security Office and System Integration.
Hernandez is a two-time graduate of the University. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Computer Information Systems (CIS) in 1997 and an MBA in CIS in 2004. He is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s chief information officer certificate program and is a Microsoft certified system engineer. Most recently, he served as assistant vice president for enterprise computing.
“Luis is a dependable and innovative leader who has continued to develop himself and his skills through his career at UTEP. He and his team have worked wonders during the pandemic,” UTEP President Heather Wilson said. “We are fortunate to have him.”
“I look forward to this new role and responsibilities, and I’m excited about the direction and energy that Dr. Wilson is bringing,” Hernandez said. “IR at UTEP has stayed competitive by recognizing that our greatest asset is our people. We have always looked for local talent from our student body who are incredibly creative and talented.”
Hernandez has been an employee at UTEP since 1998 when he worked part-time with the Networking and Telecommunications Services group. Since then, he has witnessed the University utilize cutting-edge technologies to provide faculty and students with an environment that allows them to focus on their work and be successful. Hernandez said he plans to iterate on those successes by continuing to develop collaboration between Information Resources and other departments across the University as well as among the El Paso community.
Because of the foundation set by his predecessor Stephen Riter, Ph.D., who announced his retirement in late 2019, Hernandez said the University was positioned to take advantage of the software and systems in place to quickly and effectively transition to a remote learning and working atmosphere this spring during the COVID-19 pandemic. That allowed the University to continue to deliver on its mission during an unprecedented time, he said.
“At the end of the day, we are team driven,” Hernandez said. “We depend on each other, and having that understanding helped put us on the path to success. Now, we just have to stay that course.”
Hernandez succeeds Guadalupe Valencia-Skanes, who served as interim vice president for information resources following Riter’s retirement. Valencia-Skanes is assistant vice president for business affairs and led a successful evaluation of the structure of the organization while the University identified a full-time leader.
