Rob Zschernitz

Rob joined the Field Museum in October 2010. As Chief Technology Officer, he oversees the digital strategy and provides technology vision and leadership for its development, management, and implementation across the Museum. At the Field, Rob merged the concept of traditional IT and digital engagement into a single department that collaborates with the whole Museum. While Rob shepherds highly skilled and trusted colleagues in cross-functional teams, he is re-thinking and re-engineering digital engagement for incorporation into the Museum's next strategic plan in 2022.

During his time at the Museum, Rob has overseen many initiatives, projects, and systems overhauls, including re-positioning technology in the Museum using a "people-first" philosophy. Other projects and initiatives include integrating the Museum's networks, engineering a Wi-Fi solution for a 100-year-old, historical building, upgrading network egress from 30 Mbps to 1.03 Gbps, and rapidly deploying an improved ticketing system.

Rob is a member of the Illinois Century Network Advanced Engineering Taskforce. Prior to joining the Field, he led technology and digital strategy for a large library consortium providing services and support for over 600 libraries in northeastern Illinois. Additionally, he spent several years as an independent technology consultant.