Randy Tucker, chief information officer at the University of Missouri-Rolla since April 2003, will step down from that position in July to assume an executive role with British Telecom in London.

Tucker will continue at UMR through mid-July. UMR Chancellor John F. Carney III plans to appoint an interim CIO prior to Tucker’s departure.

“As UMR’s first CIO, Randy Tucker has brought an entrepreneurial approach to our campus’ information technology operations,” Carney says. “Thanks to Randy’s vision, UMR is well positioned to maintain its leadership as an innovator in information technology.”

A 1990 civil engineering graduate of UMR, Tucker became UMR’s first CIO following 2 ½ years as the vice president of operations for the emerging markets business unit of VYVX, the news and entertainment arm of Williams Communications Group in Tulsa, Okla. He joined Williams Communications’ parent corporation, The Williams Companies, in 1990.

Tucker’s accomplishments at UMR include leading the campus to adopt a voice-over Internet protocol (VoIP) telecommunications system, expanding wireless Internet access across the campus, establishing new procedures for computer support across campus, helping to unify UMR’s web presence, enhancing the technology presence in classrooms, and incorporating information technology into the social spheres of campus.

Carney adds that recent national recognition for UMR’s IT innovations are indicators of Tucker’s leadership. In January, Forbes.com and the Princeton Review named UMR as one of the nation’s 25 “most connected” campuses. Earlier this month, CIO magazine included UMR on its annual “CIO 100” list for innovation.

“I will always be thankful for the experience I have gained at UMR, both as a student in the late 1980s and during my more recent stint as CIO,” Tucker says. “I look forward to the opportunity to build new relationships for UMR as part of my next venture in the U.K.”