Our People
Dr Sean Duffy
Fellow, IT Fellow, Official Fellow
Chief Information Officer
IT Services
PhD, Msc, BSc (UMIST)
Dr Sean Duffy is Chief Information Officer for the University of Oxford and is head of the IT Services department. As CIO, he is responsible for the University’s IT Strategy, and works with colleagues across the University to ensure IT works effectively to underpin and facilitate the strategic ambitions and operational requirements of each area – whether from the central IT Services, from departments or from Colleges and Halls.
He is a member of the EThOS Advisory Board – EthOS is the ‘electronic thesis online service’ operated for the education sector by the British Library nationally.
From 2009 to early 2018, Sean was Director of IT Services at the University of Birmingham, responsible for the bulk of the IT staff and services across the University. Whilst there, he secured a step change in their research computing capabilities, streamlined the IT governance processes, supported the initiative to move to cloud-based finance, HR and payroll systems, and was a strong advocate of IT innovation.
Prior to these, Sean worked in various IT roles in the manufacturing sector – for ICI plc in the UK, then with ICI Explosives based in Canada, and with Quest International/Givaudan based in the Netherlands and UK (in the flavours and fragrances industry).
Back in the 80s, his PhD research focused on the software protocols and specialist LAN hardware required for site-wide communications in the process control industry.
Sean is married with three young-ish children and lives in Stratford-upon-Avon.