Tom Hartman assumed the position of director of CALS Information Technology in May 2025. In his first six months, he focused on transforming CALS IT into a college-wide service center, following the centralization of IT positions that had previously been based in academic departments. Hartman, who previously served as interim director of CALS IT, now leads a team of 20 IT professionals that provides services across the entire college, including desktop support, cybersecurity, network infrastructure, and research computing and data services. He works closely with DoIT and other campus IT leaders, as well as the college’s web services team, which is housed in CALS External Relations. Hartman reports to Angela Seitler, CALS associate dean for strategy, operations and finance.

What is your hometown? Where did you grow up?
I was born and grew up on the south side of Milwaukee, in the city proper.

What is your educational / professional background?
I have a bachelor’s degree in history and began my career in the insurance industry. I moved into IT ahead of Y2K, when there was strong demand for technology jobs, and found that I really enjoyed the work. I joined CALS IT in 2016, then moved up to IT manager in 2018 when Charlene Krembs retired, then to interim IT director in August 2023, and now director this May.

What are your main responsibilities in your new CALS role?
A major focus of my role is leading the transition to a single, college-wide IT office so that faculty and staff across CALS receive the same level of support, no matter where they are located. Bringing together formerly separate departmental IT staff into one unit has created a community and team spirit where we are realizing efficiencies, growing capabilities, and increasing security.

I’m also spending a lot of time thinking about how to set the team up for success. We’ve created some teams led by staff with deep experience that combine specific skills that allow us to do new and better things. My hope is that it gives people more professional development opportunities by training and learning from colleagues.

We’re currently focused on completing an inventory of all CALS-owned computing devices. Knowing what hardware we have is an important component of our cybersecurity program. This inventory is also key to planning for projects and lifecycle replacements. We are also looking at standardizing how we handle common requests, while still identifying the unique needs of each department. 

What attracted you to this position / the college?
I knew a few people in CALS, and they encouraged me to apply for the CALS job. I grew up in cities, including Milwaukee and Minneapolis, so never really spent time on farms and never knew much about agriculture. But I gave CALS a shot back in 2016, and just really quickly realized what a great place it is.

Since then, I’ve learned to appreciate the ag industry and how important it is. And of course life sciences research too. The whole missions of CALS is so inspiring. The purpose of this place totally drives me, and it’s an honor to help the people here be successful. I love visiting labs and getting a tour to learn what they’re doing and how we can help them.

CALS has also made an impact on my family. My son is an ecology major at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cites and plans to go into plant science. I’m also pleased to see my sophomore daughter is very interested in the biological sciences engineering major.

What are you most looking forward to in this role?
I’m especially excited about building better ways to connect with new faculty much earlier in their time at CALS. If we can onboard them into UW’s IT environment as soon as possible, they’ll have a clearer picture of the services that are offered around campus.

What are your hobbies and other interests?
I like to be outdoors, kayaking and hiking. I enjoy pickleball, board games and just hanging out with family and friends.

How should people contact you?
I prefer email. I’m at thomas.hartman@wisc.edu. I’m always happy to have conversations regarding any IT topic, particularly over coffee or lunch.