Tell us about your role. What does an ITS solutions architect lead do every day?
Right now, I have dual roles. I’m the interim web hosting manager as well as the technical response director. As the interim web hosting manager, my day-to-day is making sure that we’re hitting our technical milestones. As the technical response director, I help coordinate the responses and connect the right people for faster problem resolution as emerging issues start bubbling up.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
I think it’s helping people solve complex issues in such a large organization. While it can be stressful, I try to bring a positive light to the issues we are tackling. We’re working 8-plus hours a day — I want to be laughing and smiling most of the time.
What mentors or role models have you had in the workplace?
I’ve had a couple. To pick one, Robert Pfeiffer was my first mentor in the IT field. He always pushed me to be better, to always be learning. I was a desktop support person, and he would pull me in to help out with the Active Directory design and server work, which helped me advance my career. He was always willing to share knowledge. I don’t work with him much anymore, but when I do, I always enjoy it. Rob was my first real mentor, and really helped guide the path of my career from desktop support through server admin to solutions architect.
What’s your career journey been like? What led you to this position that you have now?
I started out as a summer intern to help Housing with Y2K compliance. It’s been one of the longest internships ever, because it was only supposed to be a couple of months, and now I’m at 26 years total. I went from a student worker in desktop support to a server admin. Then I was recruited by ITCS (the precursor to ITS) to help out with Exchange and Active Directory. Then, I went to the Google project and was part of the Support Services Collaboration team, which was first formed to support Google and Box. Then I moved into supporting some of the system tools like Splunk and Nagios. I took a side turn and became a BSA (Business Systems Analyst) for a couple of years and helped with a lot of the special stuff done during COVID. Then moved into the solutions architect role that I have now.
What are your guiding principles?
Try to have fun each day. It doesn’t always work, but having a good attitude and trying to have fun while you’re at work is always, in my opinion, the better way, and that’s how I like to go through it. I like to laugh. I like to smile. If I’m not having fun, then I should probably not be there. I like to try and enjoy myself every day with work and what I’m doing.
What do you do for fun?
I like walking, traveling, playing video games, going out to eat, and trying new restaurants. Those are the types of things that I generally do as I’ve gotten older.
What would we be surprised to learn about you?
I’ve completed my bucket list. I spent a month in Nepal and trekked to Everest Base Camp to complete the list I made when I was in my late 20s. Some of the highlights include going to Egypt. I’ve been inside the pyramids. I’ve stood on the Acropolis in Athens. I’ve been to the Old City in Jerusalem, Machu Picchu, and the Eiffel Tower, to name some of the other things on the list. But seeing Everest with my own eyes and standing at base camp was the last thing on the bucket list, so now it’s time to make a new list!
Is there anything that we didn’t talk about that you want to add?
I’m just grateful for U-M and my journey here. It’s brought me friends. I met my wife here. I’ve grown up here. The people that I’ve met over the past 26 years have been amazing, and I look forward to many more.
