Luther hires Mark Franz as a new executive director for the Information Technology Services

Mark Franz recently was hired as the executive director for Information Technology Services at Luther College. He replaced Paul Mattson, who transitioned into a teaching role at the college.

“I am excited to be joining the Luther College and Decorah community. I look forward to focusing my efforts to ensure that Luther’s future graduates and those who teach them have access to the technologies that best prepare them to contribute to the world in which they live and work,” said Franz.

In his role, Franz works to promote the strategic use of information technology that advances the overall mission and strategy of the college. Among his duties, he oversees the operations and budget for ITS and works with divisions across the campus on IT risk and information security practices. His goal is to drive the college forward by creating a vision for current and future information technology services. Franz also works with other services, such as the document center, mail center, campus internet and software development.

From March 2009 until accepting the position at Luther, Franz was the vice president for information technology at Fontbonne University in St. Louis, Missouri. He was a member of the university leadership team, where he provided guidance on technology implementation across campus and contributed to the decision-making process in other issues regarding the university. He created guidelines for appropriate use of technology, maintained a plan for disaster recovery and systems backup and created strategic and tactical plans for integrating technology. In this role, he had managerial, budgetary, technical and personnel responsibilities.

For nearly 20 years, Franz served as the director of instructional and information technology at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. In this position, he developed technology plans, helped faculty with updating teaching technology and worked to create network layouts and wiring strategies for new construction and remodeling projects.

A national liberal arts college with an enrollment of 2,005, Luther offers an academic curriculum that leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree in more than 60 majors and pre-professional programs. For more information about Luther visit the college’s website: http://www.luther.edu.