David Horton is Penn State's vice president for Information Technology and chief information officer. He joined Penn State in May 2024 from the University of Oklahoma (OU), where he spent 23 years, the last five as chief information officer. Prior to his full-time position, he held a part-time appointment to participate in IT Optimized Service Team (IT OST) workshops and other ramp-up meetings.
In his role at Penn State, Horton provides direct oversight of Penn State IT and leadership and vision for all of University IT, the distributed IT units across all campuses, colleges, and research and administrative units. He also co-leads the IT OST workstream, a multi-year effort to transform and position IT to be more efficient, effective and strategic in serving end users across the University.
As CIO at OU, Horton was responsible for central IT services for all OU campuses and oversaw the university-wide team of 400 employees. From 2011 to 2018, he served as associate vice president of IT shared services at the University of Oklahoma, and chief technology officer at OU Health Sciences in Oklahoma City. Previously, he served as director of IT infrastructure services at the OU Health Sciences Center from 2004 to 2011.
Among his accomplishments at OU, he reduced IT costs and enhanced efficiencies; optimized the IT organization using system-wide teams; established a new model for IT governance; updated and consolidated IT policies system-wide; led comprehensive IT centralization programs across all campuses; oversaw broad improvements to cybersecurity; and made significant research computing investments.
Originally from western Pennsylvania, Horton received his bachelor of arts degree in liberal studies from Oklahoma City University. He has numerous technical certifications and actively participates on local, state and national advisory boards focused on technology and higher education.
Horton has two daughters, Taylor and Ali, in Oklahoma and Texas, and a granddaughter expected in September. Outside of work and family, he enjoys running and sports and is looking forward to exploring the rich history and beautiful outdoor venues around the state.
