IT Leadership Spotlight: Mark Keller, IT manager, Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library

Where are you from originally?

I was born and grew up in Idaho Falls, Idaho. I’m a Hillcrest High School knight.

What post-secondary degrees or certifications do you have, in what areas, and from which schools?

I have bachelor’s and master’s degrees in information systems. I am a proud Utah Ute; I even bleed crimson! I also have a current IT Service Management certification in ITIL 4 Foundation. I have had numerous certs over the years that have lapsed, including some from RedHat, the Linux Foundation, Amazon Web Services, etc.

What led you to the University of Utah?

I came to the University of Utah to go to college immediately after graduating high school. I haven’t left since.

Can you describe the path you took to IT leadership?

I started out as a part-time student employee in the A. Ray Olpin Student Union computer lab. Mostly, my duties at the time were to make sure that no one abused our free printing (spoiler: everyone abused our free printing). From there, I moved to a computer technician role for J. Willard Marriott Library’s PC Group. My manager at the time, Jeff Robinson, gave me the space to experiment and try new things. I was curious about Linux, so I spent a lot of time exploring that in between service calls. I must have rebuilt my workstation over 20 times testing out different distributions and seeing how each was different to manage. I also would take old hardware and turn them into all kinds of little servers. My tinkering led to me being trusted to perform some administrative tasks on production systems. Eventually, I became one of the library’s systems administrators. From there, I took a job at Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library as a senior sysadmin. I spent my time in that role managing every critical part of our infrastructure, but I also fed my curiosity by diving deeper into virtualization, containers, and orchestration. This led to the use of these technologies to design new teaching and learning services that our library offers to other departments. Eventually, my manager left the university. Before he left, he suggested to our director that I be considered as his replacement. I believe that my curiosity was a key contributor in where I am today.

How would you describe your leadership style and/or philosophy?

I tend to believe in the philosophy of servant leadership. By becoming a manager I also have taken on a responsibility to my colleagues. My primary job is not to be the boss of the members of the IT team, but to do what I can to elevate them. They’re the ones putting in all the work; my role is to help remove obstacles that get in the way of their goals.

I also act as a conduit between our IT team and our partners in and out of the library. I spend a lot of time facilitating conversations between people. I believe that communication is so incredibly important, though a lot of people tend to avoid it. Most of the problems I’ve witnessed in my career involved some level of breakdown in communication. So, I prioritize making sure that everyone is talking to one another and understands what we’re working toward.

What do you enjoy most about your role at the U?

One of the things you find commonly in libraries is a willingness to help. Librarians seem to have service built into their DNA. My experience at Eccles Library is that everyone is trying to lift each other up and help one another succeed. I think such a supportive work environment is somewhat of a rarity in life. Our library constantly receives letters of appreciation from people from all over the campus, state, region, country, and beyond. They are often surprised by the level of service they receive. I believe our ability to punch above our weight is directly correlated to the supportive environment in which we work. Lots of credit goes to our director, Catherine Soehner, for fostering this atmosphere.

What do you find most challenging about your job?

Working for a small department often means a lack of resources. That often means you have to wear a lot of hats. Also, working for a government institution means that politics are unavoidable. I get why that’s the way of things, but sometimes it’s a real drag.

What are some of your hobbies?

Most of my hobbies lately revolve around what my kids are interested in. Currently, that’s Dungeons & Dragons, soccer, swimming, music, gaming, etc. In my personal time, I enjoy listening to an audiobook while going on a long walk. I’ve taken the time to dig into classic literature in recent years. I love John Steinbeck’s novels, and “The Brothers Karamazov” by Fyodor Dostoevsky blew my mind! Though I’m not opposed to a fun, modern book either. Currently, I’m working my way through “Dungeon Crawler Carl” by Matt Dinniman.

Is there a fun fact about yourself that you’d like to share?

As a kid who grew up in a time where you had to be rich to ever fly on an airplane, I love the great American road trip. My goal is to visit every state. With heavy emphasis on the National Park system.

Is there anything else that you think our readers would like to know about you?

I love a cup of coffee. I am frequently spotted at shops around town. If you ever see me, say hi!

 

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