After nine years away, David Koehler will return to Cornell University as director of business information systems for Cornell Information Technologies (CIT) Oct. 1. He will lead Cornell's multimillion-dollar project to modernize its administrative systems over the next five years.

Koehler's last position with CIT was as director of information resources in 1993. He went on to serve as an administrative systems director at Stanford University and then at Princeton University for the last seven years. At all three universities, Koehler has been responsible for updating and integrating administrative systems using enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, among them PeopleSoft.

"We're delighted to welcome Dave back to Cornell. Given his 20 years of experience in administrative computing at three major universities, including his prior stint at Cornell, we have the highest expectations of substantial contributions to our efforts in administrative systems modernization," said Rick MacDonald, director of systems and operations at CIT, who led the search.

"Undertaking such a large project requires flawless organization and discipline," said Koehler. "My job is to put those ingredients in place to ensure Cornell's success. CIT has a superb technical staff, the administrative systems user community is extremely dedicated and senior management commitment is strong. I anticipate wonderful results."

Other organizations that have benefited from Koehler's skill include the Java in Administration Special Interest Group, CAUSE, EDUCAUSE and CAUCUS, all of which are focused on furthering information technology in higher education.

"Dave is just the kind of leader we need for this area at this time," said Polley Ann McClure, Cornell vice president for information technologies. "He is a real professional who understands not only how large information systems work, but how to work with the diverse members of the Cornell community to help us be successful in implementing them. I am delighted to have him on our team."Added Mary George Opperman, vice president for human resources, "I am looking forward to working with Dave to upgrade our administrative systems. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, and I believe that his leadership will be enormously helpful to us. We are lucky to have Dave back at Cornell."

Koehler holds three Cornell degrees: undergraduate (1972) and master's (1973) degrees in operations research, and a master of business administration degree (1977). In the 1980s he co-owned the popular Cayuga Lake restaurant O'Malley's. Koehler and his wife, Debby, have three boys -- Kevin, Eric and Maxwell -- all of whom are devoted to athletics. The family plans to settle in Trumansburg.

Nancy VanOrman had served as interim director of business information systems since June 2001.

This article was prepared by Beth Goelzer Lyons of Cornell Information Technologies.