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Dr. Joseph Cevetello, a Fulbright Scholar and nationally recognized technology leader, is Chief Information Officer for the City of Santa Monica, California. He is responsible for the city’s information technology infrastructure, services, and delivery strategies, and for ensuring an exceptional digital experience for Santa Monica’s citizens, visitors, and businesses. He directs operations to support 2,300 staff, 93,000 citizens, 51 staff, and $39million in technology.
Prior to the City of Santa Monica, Dr. Cevetello was Assistant Chief Information Officer, Information Technology Services at the University of Southern California. In this role, he directed strategy, vision, and operations for USC’s Technology Enhanced Learning Organization and provided leadership toward fulfilling the strategic goals for educational technology set forth in USC’s academic plan. He had primary responsibility for a $5million per annum initiative to build and support physical and virtual learning spaces to enhance learning, teaching, research, and outreach on campus, in the community, and at a distance. In 2013, the Chronicle of Higher Education recognized him as one of the Top 100 Technology Innovators in higher education.
Before joining USC, Joseph consulted with KPMG for the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. As Engagement Manager and Lead Consultant, he designed and documented the information technology strategy for this landmark undertaking; the largest university project in the 21st century (Cost $12.5 billon). Upon opening in September 2009, KAUST became one of the largest endowed universities in the world and is targeted to be amongst the top five universities for science and technology in five to ten years.
From 2005-2009, Dr. Cevetello was Senior Director Academic Technology and Deputy CIO at Loyola Marymount University. Joseph provided strategic leadership and vision in support of online learning infrastructure, policy, and faculty integration of technology in their teaching and research. As Deputy CIO he was responsible for $16 million operating budget, and the transformation of customer support and service initiatives.
Prior to joining LMU, Joseph was a consultant to a number of higher-education institutions and organizations including the University of Chicago, Harvard University, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Austrian National Bank, and the World Bank.
Dr. Cevetello received his masters and his doctorate from the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. His research and teaching interests encompass how online learning technologies affect adult learner and teacher interaction/collaboration, how media influence student and faculty perspectives of learning and their roles, and how the use of technology impacts organizational effectiveness, communication, and change. At Harvard and MIT he instructed courses on Adult Development, Educational Philosophy, Education for Social Change, and the History of Education Technology.
From 1995-2002, Dr. Cevetello was an instructor and coordinator for information technology in the MPA Masters program at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has received numerous grants and fellowships including: the Perry Chapman Prize (2013), James N. Snitzler Scholarship, Harvard University (2001), Action for Children's Television (ACT) Fellowship (1999), and the Spencer Research Apprentice Grant (1998), where he conducted a study of qualitative research methodology for technology use in organizations.
From 1988-1990, Joseph was a Fulbright Scholar in Vienna, Austria. In the early 1990’s, Dr. Cevetello began to experiment with the use of educational technology in his role as senior communications lecturer at the Vienna based Austrian Bankers' College International. ABCi was a widely recognized and influential professional development program that provided bankers and businesspeople from twenty countries of the former Eastern-Bloc with cutting edge business knowledge.