Higher‑Education Technology Executive

Building institutional capability at the intersection of academic strategy, research, and emerging technology.

Executive Director of Academic, Research, and Emerging Technologies at the University of Dayton. I build capability and then govern it, across academic and research systems, learning and classroom technologies, and a dedicated AI practice. Member of the Apereo Foundation Board of Directors.

Portrait of David P. Bauer

Experience

University of Dayton — UDit (Information Technologies)

Executive Director of Academic, Research, and Emerging Technologies

May 2026 – Present • Dayton, OH
  • Lead the teams responsible for how the University discovers, adopts, and sustains technology across teaching, learning, and research: academic systems and integrations, academic research technologies, learning and classroom technologies, development and UX, and AI applications and services. 16 positions across three management units, supporting 8,900 students, 819 instructors, and over 2,600 course sections per term.
  • Consolidated the University’s academic technology functions into a single organization after making the case that four separately managed units could not deliver a coherent academic technology strategy.
  • Built the AI Applications & Services team and direct a portfolio of 63 initiatives with 13 agents in production, integrated with Canvas, Zoom, Google Workspace, Salesforce, TeamDynamix, and on‑premise data warehouses across academic and administrative operations.
  • Quantified the funding gap in the University’s classroom technology portfolio across 570 instructional spaces and built the eight‑year model to close it, standardizing four nationally recognized space classifications and a funding model for each.
  • Direct the academic research technology portfolio: research computing and hybrid HPC capacity, grants management and post‑award systems, and cost‑recovery models for shared research infrastructure.
  • Established PILOT (Platform for Innovation Leveraging Open Technology), a student innovation studio placing undergraduates on applied emerging‑technology projects.

Senior Director of Academic Technologies

Oct 2024 – May 2026
  • Launched FlyerGPT, the University’s institutional AI platform, and established the campus AI governance framework, moving AI from isolated experimentation to governed, mission‑aligned adoption within a single academic year.
  • Designed and built the AI Applications & Services team, defining every role on it and hiring its founding members.
  • Migrated the enterprise video platform to Kaltura on schedule for Fall 2025, reducing annual cost while expanding functionality.
  • Built the academic technologies financial model for classroom lifecycle refresh, giving the academic division a predictable multi‑year basis for capital planning where none existed.

Director, Online Learning Technology & Strategic Initiatives

Jul 2021 – Oct 2024
  • Co‑authored the recommendation to replace the University’s enterprise LMS, then led the technology side of a phased two‑year transition through to decommissioning the legacy platform in Fall 2025.
Assistant Director, eLearning (2020–2021) • Team Lead, eLearning Systems & Support (2018–2020) • Team Lead, E‑Learning Web Dev (2016–2018) • Senior Web Developer (2015–2016) • Web Developer (2012–2015) • IT Intern (2009–2012)

Areas of Expertise

Leadership & Service

Professional

  • Board of Directors, Apereo Foundation (2026–2029), Organizational Member seat.
  • Vice Chair, MuLTItool Forge, an Apereo community building curated, LMS‑agnostic learning tools to 1EdTech LTI standards. Founding contributor.
  • EDUCAUSE Executive Leaders Academy, 2026–2027 cohort.
  • Apereo and Sakai communities since 2012, including Sakai Project Management Committee service.

University Governance

  • Co‑Chair, Academics IT Portfolio Oversight, with the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs and Learning Initiatives.
  • Co‑Chair, AI Oversight Committee, with Internal Audit.
  • AI Steering Committee, co‑led by the CIO and the Dean of Libraries.
  • Enterprise Architecture; Academic Resource Governance; IT Change Advisory Board; Flight Crew Steering Committee.

Talks & Presentations

Panelist — “MuLTItool Forge: Building Apps to Fill LMS Gaps,” Sakai Virtual Conference, 2026
Keynote Panelist — “AI & Innovation at the Brickyard” (IndyCar Kickoff with Workday, Accenture, AWS), May 9, 2025
Co‑Organizer & Presenter — “AI Day at UD: Available Tools, Guidelines, and FlyerGPT,” Apr 15, 2025
Presenter — “The Attendance Tool: Past, Present, and Future,” Sakai Virtual Conference, 2021
Presenter — “Integrating Online Writing Consultations into an LMS,” ECWCA, 2019

Education & Certifications

University of Dayton
M.B.A., 2014 • B.S. Business Administration (MIS), 2012
Certifications
ITIL 4 Foundation, IT Service Management (PeopleCert, 2025) • Professional Scrum Product Owner I (2017) • Professional Scrum Master I (2014) • Leadership UD Graduate (2018)

Research Interests

Organizational change and governance in higher education; the adoption and operationalization of AI and emerging technologies across academic and administrative domains; ethical/mission‑aligned frameworks; professional development and capacity‑building for sustainable transformation; impact assessment on teaching, learning, and service delivery.

Contact

Dayton, Ohio • Eastern time