ASU CIO Gordon Wishon honored at retirement reception

President Michael M. Crow and other Arizona State University officials honored Chief Information Officer Gordon Wishon at a ceremony Dec. 8 as he leaves ASU for a much-deserved retirement. The event honored Wishon’s many accomplishments across his seven years in the University Technology Office.

“We’re at the forefront of what’s happening in technology at the university level,” ASU CFO Morgan R. Olsen said at the ceremony. “And having Gordon’s stable leadership and getting there has just been fantastic.”

ASU Executive Vice President and University Provost Mark Searle said technological infrastructure improvements and opportunities have tremendously influenced student retention rates.

“That’s a credit to the kind of leadership Gordon provided,” he said.

Crow closed out the honors praising the indispensable nature of technology at ASU.

“At the center of everything we do has been the fact that a technology platform must be ubiquitous,” he said. “(Gordon) brought all that with a very, very, very steady hand. And so I was never worried.”

Wishon was inducted into the CIO Hall of Fame for his technological innovation initiatives in higher education. In 2014, he received the EDUCAUSE Leadership Award, the highest honor at the higher-education technology association. 

At ASU, he has been at the forefront of wireless upgrades, cloud-based strategies, infrastructure design for the Sun Devil Stadium renovation and more.

From left to right: ASU Provost Mark Searle, ASU President Michael Crow, Cyndi Wishon and ASU CIO Gordon Wishon at Gordon Wishon's retirement ceremony.

Wishon’s day-to-day duties included cultivating services that could improve student success, such as big data and Internet of Things research and implementation, as well as a reengineering of the University’s Help Center.

He has also overseen many other ASU technology developments like the Starbucks Achievement Program, eAdvisor, smart campus initiatives, infrastructure upgrades, an improved mobile experience for the community and student success and achievement initiatives. In his career at ASU, Wishon oversaw 1,857 projects from initiation to close.

Previously, Wishon led the information technology organizations at the University of Notre Dame and the Georgia Institute of Technology following more than 20 years of military service with the U.S. Air Force.

He brought his unparalleled experience and vision to numerous ASU improvements, and his insight will be missed at the university.

Written by Tristan Ettleman