Ronald J. Thielen

Enterprise Architect

Integration Directorate - Architecture Group
Networking Services and Information Technologies

The University of Chicago
1155 E. 60th Street
Chicago, IL 60637


voice: (773) 702-7612
fax: (773) 702-0559
Click here to send e-mail: rthielen@uchicago.edu
Click here to look at my calendar

 


Responsible for:
Enterprise architecture initiatives, including Enterprise Security Architecture and Enterprise Storage Architecture.  This is a new and evolving role within The University, so stay tuned for updates.

Areas of expertise:
Programming Languages:
The first real language I learned was PL/I for CPS (Conversational Programming System). Over the years I have written programs in Algol (60 and 68), APL, Assembler (IBM, CDC, Motorola 6502), Basic (in many incarnations), C, CLIST, Fortran, JCL, LISP, LotusScript, Modula-2, Notes Macro Language, Pascal, PL/I, REXX, SAS, Simscript, SNOBOL, SPSS, and various UNIX shells. I have somehow avoided COBOL in any form.

Today I consider myself very conversant in PL/I, IBM Assembler, JCL, SAS, REXX, Notes Macro Language, CLIST, and LotusScript; and I'm able to hold my own in UNIX shell script (ksh, bsh, csh, and tcsh), C, and Visual Basic.

Systems
As a systems programmer or systems administrator, I have most recently supported systems running OS/390, AIX, OS/2, Solaris, and Netware. I have provided systems programming support for VM, SVS, and TOPS-20 as well. As an end user, I am familiar with Windows '95/'98, Windows NT/2000, Mac/OS, Windows 3.1, and PC/MS-DOS systems.

Business skills
My position at The University has allowed me to develop skills in vendor negotiation, financial management, and personnel management. My involvement with SHARE (see below) has provided me with a wealth of opportunities for training in meeting facilitation, public speaking, media relations, and organizational and personal dynamics. Both have combined to teach me to think strategically and to relate technology to business issues rather than to purely technological concerns.

Other
My exposure to a wide variety of systems and business issues provides me with a basis for performing technology assessment for my employer. My industry contacts have assisted me in exploring facets of information technology from a broad industry perspective as well as from within the context of higher education.

Over the several years, I have developed many very large and complex Lotus Notes applications. Recently I have created multiple web sites using Domino. I have been the Notes administrator for six servers.

Of course, I have developed the necessary skills with business tools such as Excel, 1-2-3, Word, PowerPoint, Freelance, etc.

Other interests:
I am the Immediate Past President of SHARE, Inc., the world's first and oldest computer user group.  I have served on the Advisory Board for Beyond Computing magazine.  I enjoy traveling, visiting vineyards, canoeing, hiking, and time-speed-distance road rallying.

IT Industry History:
The first machine I programmed was a Frieden 26 step programmable calculator, a 50 pound "four banger", at my high school. I wrote a procedure to calculate square roots using interpolation. The first real system I used was an IBM System 360 Model 50 with OS/MFT 21.7 at Loyola University of Chicago. I think it had 256KB of core memory. My chemistry class used CPS (Conversational Programming System) with Teletype 33 terminals and paper tape punches to write x-ray diffraction analysis routines. I left the chemistry program and graduated from Loyola with the first computer science degree they granted.

I started working at The University of Chicago as a Junior Programmer Analyst in the library just a couple of months prior to graduation. I became a systems programmer the following year and immediately freed up the time of the systems programming staff by relieving them of the need to read the dumps I'd been generating as an applications programmer.

I spent many happy years as a systems programmer supporting our SVS, MVS, VM, and TOPS-20 systems. Eventually I became the manager of the Operating Systems Group then Assistant Director.

The University has supported my involvement as a volunteer with SHARE since 1978. I served on a variety of task forces and committees, became manager of the JES2 Project, and then manager of the MVS Group. I was elected to the Board of Directors in 1992 and became the CIO (Director of Information Systems). As the CIO of SHARE, I planned and directed the conversion of the technology base of our business processes from mainframes and 3270s to an internationally distributed collaborative computing environment based on Lotus Domino and Notes. I have been the CFO of the organization and oversaw its growth to over $6M in assets. I became President and CEO of SHARE in 1998, and concluded my term in July of 2000. As a Past President of the organization, I continue to act as a mentor and sounding board for the current administration and volunteers at all levels.