Biography

Former CIO Michael Berman is Executive Strategic Consultant for Vantage Technology Consulting Group. In this role he helps higher education leaders solve their toughest strategic problems. He is also the owner of Intentional Brains LLC which provides consulting services to educational institutions, and to companies that supply IT services and software to higher education.

In 2022 EDUCAUSE recognized him with the EDUCAUSE Leadership Award, in honor of his influential career in higher education and his dedication to service and equitable inclusion.

Until June 2022, Michael was the Chief Information Officer for the California State University system, providing enterprise services and strategic coordination for the 23 campuses of the CSU. He previously served as CSU's first Chief Innovation Officer, leading the effort to promote innovation across the CSU campuses. For eight years he was VP and CIO at Cal State Channel Islands, and has been the senior technology administrator at three other universities. Michael was on the Board of Directors for EDUCAUSE in 2019-2020. He was a Director and Chair of the Board of CENIC, which operates the California Research and Education Network that serves universities, colleges, K-12 districts, and libraries across the state. Michael was a member of the Board of Trustees of NMC and participated in the advisory committee for the NMC Horizon Reports on Higher Education for several years. He was the cofounder in 2010 of EduSoCal, a regional conference that brought together more than 200 participants annually. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Rutgers University, and he has been a faculty member, a software developer, a systems administrator and a textbook author.

Michael also writes, records, and performs music - you can find him on Spotify and many other music sites by searching for Mike Berman.