2017 Penny Crane Award Recipient – Tim Foley

Dr. Timothy Foley is the Chief Information Officer of Library and Technology Services at Lehigh University. Tim has been at Lehigh for over thirty-five years holding various educational, technical and administrative positions including technical consultant, user services manager, associate director of computing, and director of client computing and library services. He has taught graduate courses in instructional programming as well as undergraduate courses in mathematics and computer science. His current position provides oversight responsibility for client services encompassing help desk, distributed computing, residential networking, computer repair, and distributed college support teams composed of librarians, instructional technologists, and computing consultants. He also has oversight responsibilities for Enterprise Systems and Technology Infrastructure and Operations. He has published and presented over forty papers at national and international conferences on the problems and issues of developing, implementing and managing university information systems.

Tim attended his first SIGUCCS User Services Conference in 1983 in New Orleans. Tim’s SIGUCCS activities have included nine papers presented at the fall SIGUCCS conference starting in 1988, ten talks at the spring management symposium (SMS) starting in 1993, two SIGUCCS peer review committees, SIGUCCS Management Symposium (SMS) 2006 track chair, SMS 2007 program chair, SMS 2008 symposium chair, SIGUCCS Executive Board member 2008-2011, and SIGUCCS Awards Selection Committee 2013- 2015, including chairing the committee in 2014.

He holds BS and MS degrees in Mathematics and a doctorate in Educational Technology. His 1988 dissertation covered the design, implementation, and satisfaction of a campus-wide information system (CWIS) which was so popular that remnants of it still exist today in Lehigh’s campus portal.

Comments from Tim and some highlights from his nomination:

“I am honored to receive this award which is dedicated to Penny Crane, who was a fixture at every SIGUCCS conference I attended. Penny was always a welcoming face making sure she got to know you and you were always included in the variety of activities that occur throughout the conference. She also stressed that the most important aspects of the User Services conference were the people you met and interacted with outside of what was occurring in the conference program. She also understood the importance of having fun and enjoying the people and relationships you made by attending and participating in SIGUCCS.”

“It is obvious from working with Tim over the years that he has two priorities in his professional life: helping students prepare for the future by providing them with the most advanced technology and support, and enabling his staff to grow, contribute and advance the computing profession through participation in organizations such as SIGUCCS.”

“What sets Tim apart from other leaders is his enthusiastic approach to solving problems, his devotion to his staff and his unselfish attitude.” “Lehigh attendees have made a significant contribution to SIGUCCS through their presentations, interactions with their peers, and enthusiastic volunteer efforts, all of which are largely due to Tim’s leadership and influence.”

“I have seen the ways Tim encourages people to participate, talking with them about the organization and listening to their comments. He was always welcoming to new participants, drawing them in with his contagious enthusiasm. And Tim has always been an ardent supporter of SIGUCCS and committed to continual improvement for the organization.”

“Tim understands that his people are his most valuable asset. He supports active participation in SIGUCCS, EDUCAUSE, and other such organizations.”

For fun Tim is actively involved in indoor/outdoor rowing, cycling, and racquetball. He and his wife are also quite busy keeping up with their 18 grandchildren.