Michael Hites serves as Chief Information Officer for SMU.

Dr. Hites has held C-level IT leadership positions for the past 24 years at four different universities.  Currently, he is responsible for university-level IT policy, strategic planning, 24/7 operations, infrastructure, application development, teaching and learning, research, training, governance models, data analytics support, information security, customer service, and project management.

Previously, Dr. Hites was the first Chief Technology Officer at Illinois Institute of Technology, the first Chief Information Officer at New Mexico State University, and Chief Information Officer at University of Illinois System. He has also led institutional research, library services, and distance education services. He led the development of an under-40 statewide leadership program and helped start a university-wide curriculum in interprofessional projects. He has taught courses in engineering and supervised more than 25 multi-disciplinary student projects.  Dr. Hites has been an invited speaker for conferences and corporate retreats, is published in society journals and trade magazines, was a board member for both the Society for College and University Planning and Leadership New Mexico, was one of Computerworld’s Premier 100 IT Leaders, and was the chair of the Lonestar Education and Research Network.

Dr. Hites holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Arizona, a MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology