Lafayette College named a new leader for its information technology division this summer, filling the chief information officer position vacant since October.
David Lifka, the new hire, officially began work at the college on Aug. 1.
Unlike his predecessor — John O’Keefe ‘96, who left Lafayette after two decades for a lower-level position at Princeton University — Lifka will not report to college President Nicole Hurd. The information technology division is now ultimately overseen by senior administrator Audra Kahr.
In the role, Lifka will steward the college’s use of technology during a time of great upheaval in both the tech and higher education landscapes. He emphasized his perception of information technology as a “service organization.”
“That means ensuring critical systems that run College’s business are robust and secure while at the same time ensuring the proper IT support for the academic mission of teaching and research,” Lifka wrote in an email.
Biology professor Eric Ho, who served on the 12-person search committee for the chief information officer, described the role as having to wear “two hats,” balancing innovative campus technology with implementing it in education.
Ho said he prioritized a candidate who sought to use technology to elevate learning, but could also execute this in an affordable way by using campus resources.
“From the faculty perspective, of course, I want to have the best,” Ho said.
“But that is not cheap,” he later added. “A leader has to balance the needs.”
Lafayette’s navigation of artificial intelligence was cited by several members of the search committee as a top priority. Lifka said that the impact of AI in business and higher education is a subject he is “often asked about.”
“Artificial intelligence is perhaps the most disruptive technology since the World Wide Web,” he wrote. “There is no stopping it.”
But while some experts proclaim that AI spells catastrophe for the education system, Lifka doesn’t present himself as doom and gloom.
“If the whole world uses AI every day in the many aspects of their life, critical thinking is what will distinguish a college graduate from everyone else,” he wrote. “To trust but verify is a critical part of the academic process. The more you know about a subject area, the better you will be prepared to know when and how to verify what AI tells you.”
Several members of the search committee also lauded Lifka’s grounding in both technology and education. College President Nicole Hurd described his background as a “beautiful blend of operations and academic rigor.”
Lifka joins Lafayette after a brief stint consulting for Microsoft on higher education-related strategies, a time he called an “amazing sabbatical.” Before that, he spent nearly 30 years at Cornell University, beginning his time in a research computing lab and ending it as the institution’s vice president of information technology and chief information officer.
At Lafayette — a job he landed after his wife, a Levittown native eager to return to the area, spotted the posting during a family visit — Lifka will work under Audra Kahr, the college’s executive vice president of finance and administration.
The division adds to Kahr’s laundry list of responsibilities, including the college’s finances, business, facilities and public safety operations. Kahr described her involvement in the information technology division as a “supportive arm,” noting that Lifka will still lead the division and guide its strategy.
“As information technology needs continue to change and evolve, a close working relationship with legal, finance, insurance, and enterprise risk management is critical,” she wrote.
A correction was made on Aug. 29, 2025: A previous version of this article stated that Chief Information Officer David Lifka was not a member of college President Nicole Hurd’s senior leadership team. Lifka is a member of this team.
