Rick Snaric has been named Linfield University’s new chief information officer. Snaric has been with the university since 2015, most recently in the role of director of technical services. In his new role, he will lead information technology services on Linfield’s Portland and McMinnville campuses, as well as Online and Continuing Education.
The promotion was announced by Mike Wenz, vice president for finance and administration/CFO.
“We are excited to benefit from Rick’s deep understanding of technology, both here at Linfield and beyond,” Wenz said, hailing Snaric’s three-decade career and multiple areas of expertise. “Rick’s diverse background in IT positions him perfectly to lead our university’s technology strategy and integration. He will play a pivotal role in driving innovation, cybersecurity and promoting service excellence across Linfield University. His leadership will be instrumental in guiding our institution toward a technology-rich future that benefits our students, faculty and staff.”
Snaric joined Linfield as network operations manager in 2015. Prior to Linfield, he worked as a network engineer for the City of Longview, a systems support analyst and consultant for Impac Services, and a wide variety of technology roles with Hollywood Video, where he began his career in 1993.
“I’m tremendously excited for this new role,” Snaric said, adding that he is eager to continue Linfield’s excellent work on data and cybersecurity instituted by his predecessor and mentor Sam Williams. “Linfield has an incredibly strong technology team — we’re small, but we’re agile, and together, we will work on pushing innovation, breaking down silos and ensuring Linfield students and employees can collaborate across teams.”
It’s the Linfield community, he said, that really makes the difference.
“I’m a Wildcat, and so are two of my daughters,” he said. “My motivation is to see Linfield succeed, and I’ve been flooded by congratulations and support from my team and the larger Linfield community.”
