In 1989, Karen Julian enrolled at what was then known as the College of St. Thomas after graduating from Lakeville High School — without ever visiting the campus.
The school and community grew on her. She excelled in classes and a work study job evolved into a full-time position that paid for tuition.
She never left. She kept that job while she finished undergraduate and graduate degrees and then moved up into different positions at what is now the University of St. Thomas.
Julian became interim chief information officer when Ed Clark left in August to take the CIO job for the California State University system. The interim was removed from her title in March.
The chief information officer is a relatively new position in corporate America and even less so in academia. Now many schools have programs and certificates for students hoping to become a CIO.
Julian is only the third CIO St. Thomas has had and among only a handful of women CIOs at major colleges and universities.
Information technology and data security now infuse all aspects of student life and the amount of personal data that students share with the school at all levels needs to be protected and secure.
When Julian started at St. Thomas, the innovation and technology services department she now leads had about 25 employees among the school's 1,402 full- and part-time employees. Today, it has over 100 of the 1,933 employees at the university.