Director

Michigan Department of Information Technology

Ken Theis serves as the Director for the Michigan Department of Information Technology (MDIT) and the State of Michigan’s Chief Information Officer (CIO). He and his agency of 1,700 employees are responsible for delivering technology services to Executive Branch agencies across state government. He is responsible for setting the strategic direction for state government technology and ensuring the timely delivery of agreed upon IT services. He reports directly to Governor Jennifer M. Granholm and serves as a Cabinet member.

Mr. Theis came to the State of Michigan from the General Motors Corporation where he held several key business and technology leadership positions. He has extensive background in business processes, technology and developing successful teams to tackle the most complex projects. While at General Motors, his accomplishments included leading reorganization and reengineering of Oldsmobile Division Systems and IT implementation. Mr. Theis also led the Systems Reengineering and Information Technology implementation for the reorganization of six General Motors marketing divisions into one centralized sales and marketing organization.

Mr. Theis was recently named to the “Premier 100” list by ComputerWorld magazine, placing him in the “Best in Class” as one of the top ten technology leaders in the country. He also was recognized with the Symantec Government 2008 Vision Award. In 1998, Mr. Theis received the General Motors Chairman’s Honors Award and was also the recipient of the General Motors CIO Award in 1999.

Mr. Theis has served as the Deputy CIO for the Michigan Family Independence Agency (FIA), where he successfully implemented a statewide Child Support Enforcement System enabling the State to recover substantial federal penalties. He also held the position of Chief Deputy Director of MDIT prior to his appointment as Director/CIO.

Mr. Theis received his B.S. at Ferris State University and M.B.A. at Northwood University.