Director of ATS
Thomas Davis, Director
517-353-6727
tdd@msu.edu
Thomas D. Davis serves as director of Academic Technology Services (ATS). In this position, he leads ATS’ efforts in supporting central academic computing and media services as well as the campus network and Internet infrastructure. His extensive technical and administrative experience has brought valuable insight to ATS. He guides ATS staff in pursuit of providing high quality IT services to support teaching and research. Davis oversees a staff of 160 with an annual operating budget of $25 million.
Committed to collaboration, Davis and ATS employees communicate with university IT staff and with the campus at large in various forums, both face-to-face and online. He represents ATS to off-campus interests including alumni, parents of students, vendors, other universities, and the media. Davis encourages ATS staff to participate in regional and national IT conferences and seminars, such as meetings sponsored by the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (Big Ten universities plus the University of Chicago).
Born and raised in Mason, Michigan, Davis earned a bachelor’s degree from MSU in computer science with minors in electrical engineering and mathematics. As an undergraduate he worked at ATS (then known as the MSU Computer Laboratory) as a student systems programmer. He worked for supercomputer manufacturer ETA from 1985 to 1987, and for Digital Equipment Corporation from 1987 to 1988. He returned to a full-time programming job at MSU in 1988 and became a project leader in the network software area. Later he served as division manager of technical services overseeing the university’s computer labs, e-mail, course management, and storage systems. In June 2002, Davis was named director of the Computer Laboratory. He also serves as associate director of MSU’s High Performance Computing Center (HPCC).
