Welcoming Ruth Marinshaw as executive director of research computing technologies

To: University Cabinet; President’s Office; Provost’s Office; Deans’ Office Staff; Yale Center for Research Computing Steering Committee, Staff, and Faculty Users; IT Senior Leadership Team and Leadership Council

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to formally announce the appointment of Ruth Marinshaw as executive director of research computing technologies at Yale, effective November 13. In this role, Ruth will serve as the university’s primary technologist to support the computing needs of Yale’s research community. In addition to providing strategic vision, she will lead the Yale Center for Research Computing (YCRC) and work with colleagues across campus to implement and operate computational technologies that support Yale faculty, students, and staff in conducting cutting-edge research. Ruth will report jointly to us in our roles as vice president for information technology and campus services and vice provost for research.

Ruth brings to Yale over twenty years of experience leading technology and research services in higher education. She will join us from Stanford University, where she has served as chief technology officer for research computing since 2012. Under Ruth’s leadership, Stanford’s research computing and cyberinfrastructure services, systems, facilities, and support have grown significantly. Throughout her tenure, she established two three-megawatt data centers, instituted a shared high-performance computing cluster, and expanded commercial cloud-based services for regulated data. In addition, she developed a team of research computing professionals and forged critical partnerships with Stanford Medicine, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, faculty leaders, and other colleagues across the institution. Recently, she was instrumental in establishing an NVIDIA SuperPOD, fulfilling a faculty committee’s vision for a data science and AI-focused research instrument. Ruth’s colleagues have commended her ability to respond to current and emerging needs and facilitate researchers’ ability to make exceptional discoveries in their fields.

Before her role at Stanford, Ruth held positions of increasing responsibility at The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, where she oversaw research computing services, staff, and systems and created new service partnerships across the university, ranging from the libraries to the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Throughout her career, she has contributed expertise to national conversations on research computing and currently serves as co-chair of the National Science Foundation’s Advisory Committee for Cyberinfrastructure. At Stanford, she co-sponsored the Women in Technology+ program.

We hope you will join us in welcoming Ruth to the community in November. We also hope you will help us thank Lisa D’Angelo and Andy Sherman, who will continue to serve as interim co-directors of YCRC until Ruth’s arrival. We are incredibly grateful to Lisa and Andy for leading through a period of transition and ensuring the continuity of exceptional research support for the community.

Sincerely,

John Barden
Vice President for Information Technology and Campus Services

Mike Crair 
Vice Provost for Research