Joseph Sawasky, currently Chief Information Officer and Associate Vice President, Computing and Information Technology at Wayne State University, has been selected as the President and CEO of Merit Network, Inc. Prior to joining Wayne State, Mr. Sawasky was the Chief Information Officer and Associate Vice President for Information Technology for the University of Toledo and University of Toledo Medical Center. His selection was announced today by Dr. Walter Milligan, Chief Information Officer at Michigan Technological University and Chair of the Search Committee, and a member of Merit's Board of Directors. 

Per Dr. Milligan, "I am very pleased that Joe Sawasky has agreed to accept the position of President and CEO of Merit Network, Inc. Joe has a combination of experience and vision perfectly suited to lead Merit during a time of rapid change. The search process identified several excellent candidates for the position, however, Joe was the clearly the most outstanding candidate.

Mr. Sawasky's appointment, which was recommended by a search committee consisting of members of Merit's Board of Directors and Merit staff, was unanimously approved by Merit's Board of Directors on July 31, 2015.  Mr. Sawasky will join Merit on August 31, 2015.

"I am thrilled to become part of Merit and continue their great tradition of connecting and growing the community of organizations serving society in Michigan and beyond," said Mr. Sawasky. "Merit is the original research and education network, and it has both a celebrated past and the advanced technology expertise to help drive Michigan forward in the 21st century. High performance networking, digital community building and advanced cyber security services are all part of their portfolio -- and these services are all essential elements for a thriving digital community. I am looking forward to working with the fantastic team at Merit, and serving the unique technology needs of their member organizations who are striving to make Michigan a preeminent place to live, learn and work."

Mr. Sawasky brings to Merit extensive IT leadership experience, spanning higher education, healthcare and manufacturing. He is currently the Chair of Merit's Board of Directors, and an active member of the Merit Services Innovation Group and Security Summit Planning Committee. During nearly 22 years with the University of Toledo, Mr. Sawasky focused on IT strategic planning, organizational leadership, project portfolio management, and customer satisfaction/quality programs. During his time at Wayne State, Mr. Sawasky and his IT organization developed Academica-ESP, a new enterprise portal service designed to facilitate and encourage real-time collaboration between students and faculty across campus.