Richard Mendola named vice president and chief information officer at Johns Hopkins University and Medicine

Richard Mendola, an information technology leader who has spent the past 17 years at Emory University, has been selected as the new vice president and chief information officer for Johns Hopkins University and Medicine, leadership announced on Monday.

At Hopkins, Mendola will hold an executive leadership position responsible for enterprisewide strategic and operational oversight of information technology systems and infrastructure across both Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Medicine, and will serve as the primary thought leader on all IT-related matters at Johns Hopkins.

Image caption: Richard Mendola

Image credit: Emory University

Mendola's first day at Hopkins will be March 15. He will succeed Dean Zarriello, who has served as vice provost for information technology and chief information officer on an interim basis since October 2021.

"After a national search, Richard emerged as a leader who brought a unique combination of mastery of complex issues and challenges confronting IT operations at a major research university and academic medical center, and excitement about the transformational possibilities on the horizon," Laurent Heller, senior vice president for finance and administration; Sunil Kumar, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs; and Theodore L. DeWeese, interim dean of the medical faculty and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, wrote in a message to the Hopkins community on Monday.

Mendola has served since 2005 as enterprise chief information officer and senior vice provost at Emory University with joint responsibility for both Emory University and Emory Healthcare and oversight of more than 800 IT staff and a $190 million budget. He aligned communication systems, security practices, and identity management practices across the academic and health care domains. From 2013 to the present, Mendola also served as senior vice provost for library services and digital scholarship, a position that included implementing new governance processes, selecting a new library information system, creating a new center for digital scholarship, and developing a vision for a high-density library storage facility, built and managed in partnership with the Georgia Institute of Technology. A longtime thought leader in nonprofit IT, he served as president and chairman of RHEDcloud, a foundation focused on promoting secure cloud computing in research, higher education, and health care.

"I couldn't be more honored and excited to accept the chief information officer position. The people, commitment to excellence, and visionary thinking I found while visiting presented an incredibly compelling case for joining the Johns Hopkins leadership team," Mendola said. "I look forward to helping Johns Hopkins advance its mission and remain a world leader in teaching, research, and health care delivery."

Mendola began his academic career as a health sciences faculty member at the University of Connecticut's Health Science Center. He served in a variety of academic and administrative roles at the University of Connecticut and the University of Illinois before joining Emory. He received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Pittsburgh, and he earned a master's and PhD in clinical psychology, as well as an MBA, from the University of Connecticut.

"We are thrilled to have found someone with Richard's record of achievement, experience, and collegiality to take on this critical enterprisewide role," the Hopkins leaders wrote. "Please join us in welcoming Richard to Hopkins this spring."