Jay Brodsky, an experienced chief information officer, has brought that expertise to AAAS in a newly created role. As chief information officer, Brodsky will oversee AAAS’ information technology, project management, and data and analytics teams. He joined AAAS on Sept. 12.
Brodsky’s role integrates three currently separate teams to align AAAS’ technology and data analytics strategy and operations with the organization’s strategic goals in carrying out its mission to advance science and serve society.
Brodsky is not new to the world of science membership organizations. Beginning in 2018, Brodsky was chief digital officer of the American Geophysical Union, the association representing Earth and space scientists and advancing their research to solve societal challenges. Among his accomplishments leading the organization’s digital strategy were consolidating its 70 separate websites into a single digital platform. Brodsky also oversaw the technical challenge of transitioning AGU’s annual meeting from an in-person gathering to a virtual event and then to a hybrid meeting drawing 20,000 participants.
“The opportunity to come down the street to the largest global scientific society was really attractive –an exciting opportunity to broaden my impact,” said Brodsky.
Brodsky launched his career on the technology side of the media industry, with stints at the Tribune Company and National Public Radio before becoming chief information officer at the Atlantic Media Company. He went on to serve as chief information officer at Thompson Media Group before leading a technology consulting firm working in digital transformation and cybersecurity.
He holds a degree in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, an MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University and a master’s degree in cybersecurity strategy from The George Washington University. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Twin Valley family of companies, a Kansas-based telecom and technology organization.
From building some of the first newspaper websites to joining the radio industry just as podcasting was taking hold, Brodsky has been “at the nexus of a lot of change throughout my whole career,” he said. At a time when it is more important than ever to distribute scientific information to the world, Brodsky notes that his experiences have prepared him to help organizations at the forefront of technology-driven changes.
In addition to being poised to address timely tech issues like open access publishing, Brodsky also looks forward to working with a newly integrated team.
“For me, it’s a great opportunity to work with some really skilled people. More than anything else, it’s going to be about my colleagues here,” he said.
Brodsky’s interest in advancing AAAS’ mission has a personal dimension as well: his three daughters – one college student majoring in public health and two high school students – are all interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. He looks forward to being able to point them to STEM role models, he said.
Said Brodsky, “It's a great opportunity for my work to intersect with their interests.”