David Saacke Named to New Executive Director of Institutional AI Role at W&L Kerri Chapman to serve as interim chief information officer after four years as the university’s deputy chief information officer.

By Brian Laubscher
September 9, 2026

David Saacke, chief information officer (CIO) at Washington and Lee University since 2011, has been named to a newly created role as executive director of institutional artificial intelligence (AI), effective immediately. Kerri Chapman, deputy CIO, will serve as interim chief information officer. Both positions will report to Steve McAllister, vice president for finance and treasurer.

“When I broached the topic with David about how we make advances in developing a framework around AI usage on campus, he acknowledged it was time to dedicate a person to this effort,” McAllister said. “I was delighted when David later expressed his interest in the role. As the university navigates how best and where to deploy AI, having an individual with David’s knowledge of the campus and its culture will be critical to help lead this endeavor. He has proven to be an excellent collaborator and is able to synthesize information and different points of view to help identify solutions. David quite simply is the right person at the right time to do this work.”

In this new role, Saacke will be responsible for leading W&L’s adoption of artificial intelligence as an institutional capability, translating shared AI strategy and governance into coordinated action across academic and administrative units. Working with the university’s AI Governance Committee, the Harte Center for Teaching and Learning, the Prompting, Learning and Artificial Intelligence (PLAI) Collaborative and Information Technology Services (ITS), he will guide departments in identifying practical uses for AI, build institutional competency through education and training and oversee the evaluation and adoption of enterprise AI tools, ensuring the university’s approach to AI remains responsible, effective and aligned with its mission and values.

“W&L has progressed amid the AI explosion over the past four years, particularly through academic support and programming efforts from the Provost’s Office and the Harte Center, and more recently through the AI Governance Committee’s work to provide the community with institution-wide AI guidelines, education, tools, activities and support,” Saacke said. “It became clear that a dedicated position was needed to meet demand and execute a plan to deliver and measure outcomes. I recognized that my career background, end-of-career goals and opportunities to create space and new ideas within ITS for its ongoing growth and success were all aligned with this institutional need, and that the timing was right for change.”

Saacke joined the university in 2007 as director of enterprise applications and served as interim CIO before being named to the position permanently in 2011. As CIO, he led the university’s ITS team in a variety of high-priority efforts that reshaped how technology supports teaching, research and university operations. Under his leadership, ITS built W&L’s cybersecurity program from the ground up, working with the Board of Trustees to establish cybersecurity as an institutional priority. He guided a series of reorganizations that allowed ITS to dedicate staff to research computing support, academic technology, project management and community outreach. He also led the team through the migration to Workday, the adoption of central identity management, the shift from on-campus storage to cloud-based services and the university’s rapid move to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saacke also directed the redesign of W&L’s connection to national fiber infrastructure, giving the university a high-capacity, redundant link built to absorb future growth in demand. He represented W&L on the Rockbridge Area Network Authority (RANA), the regional broadband initiative that began with a federal grant and the university’s $2.5 million match to locate the Richard A. Peterson Data Center on campus. He oversaw construction of the center and served 14 years on the RANA board as chair, vice chair and treasurer, helping guide the authority from a startup effort to a fully operational entity that expanded middle-mile fiber and broadband service across Rockbridge County.

“Working at W&L has been the most rewarding time of my life; the people, the culture and the opportunities cannot be beat,” Saacke said. “Being able to take on a new challenge at this stage of my career and contribute to this institution at such a pivotal time is a gift I don’t take lightly. I’m privileged and appreciative of the support from our administration to launch and sustain this effort.”

Before W&L, Saacke held a variety of technology roles with Bell Atlantic through a series of mergers that created Verizon. He also served as director of quality support and training services for CBM Technologies Inc., a software development company. Saacke began his professional career in public relations management after earning a Bachelor of Science degree in communications from James Madison University in 1989.

Chapman came to W&L in 2016 as director of enterprise systems and integration services and was promoted to deputy CIO in 2022. Across her various roles at W&L, she provided strategic direction in the selection of a new enterprise resource planning platform and led technical and integration leadership and support for numerous software systems, including Workday, and additional key platforms handling student billing and payment, electronic transcript delivery, international student management, tutor management and volunteer management.

“When it was apparent David was going to transition to his new role, Kerri immediately came to mind as the person who should succeed him,” McAllister said. “In her 10 years at W&L, Kerri has proven time and time again to be a tireless worker, great team player and strong collaborator with stakeholders throughout campus. Her in-depth knowledge of our core campus systems and work as deputy CIO positions her for success, and she will bring a fresh set of eyes to the role. Kerri is thoughtful and deliberative and focuses on finding solutions rather than lamenting problems. I look forward to working with her more directly.”

Before arriving at W&L, Chapman spent 12 years at the University of Richmond in a variety of roles. She began as a business process analyst, then served as director of advancement data services and later as a senior programmer analyst, leading Richmond’s implementation and support efforts for its enterprise content management system. Earlier in her career, Chapman worked as a financial aid counselor and later as assistant director of financial aid at Georgia Southern University, where she earned a Master of Education degree in higher education student services in 2002. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history with a minor in legal studies from George Mason University.

“Stepping into the interim CIO role at this moment is an incredible opportunity,” Chapman said. “David has fostered an organization of talented and dedicated people and built enduring relationships across the university. I am thrilled to continue that model while still having him as a partner in technology leadership.”