The Office of the CIO formally welcomes Jim Hurst as the new chief administrative officer as of June. Jim has a strong commitment to transparency, operational excellence and strategic thinking—and a rich history with the University of Illinois.
As chief administrative officer, Hurst oversees the groups involved with IT strategy and planning, business and financial operations, WebStore, human resources, communications and marketing and facilities operations. Working closely with the Chief Information Officer, he helps to enact the CIO’s vision and strategy for Technology Services and campus IT. Since joining the Office of the CIO staff, he has already played a key role in making organizational information more accessible.
Hurst attended University High School and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, graduating with a degree in economics and business administration. A few years later he returned to campus, working for the Operations Center at CITES, now Technology Services. Following his time at CITES, he spent 21 years at The Grainger College of Engineering, beginning as desktop support and advancing until he became the head of IT for the college in 2013. Hurst served in this role until becoming chief administrative officer for the Office of the CIO June 2025.
“While I was with Engineering IT, I worked extensively on the financial model and reporting, IT governance and organizational development such as career paths, performance management, staff development, etc. At the Office of the CIO, I hope to leverage that experience here to transform and modernize the administrative functions within Technology Services and to help build IT governance and IT talent management capabilities for the campus as a whole. I hope to bring positivity, transparency and flexibility to the office as we adapt to these changing times,” Hurst said.
Hurst is also one of the founding facilitators of the Manager Development Program where he teaches performance management and coaches developing managers from various universities. Outside of work, Jim spends his time still staring at computer screens for recreational reasons, as well as in extensive home improvement and woodworking projects.