James Lyall — Chief Information Officer

James Lyall leads NREL's Information Technology Services (ITS) Office and the development of an innovative, robust, and secure IT environment across the laboratory.

As chief information officer (CIO), Lyall guides ITS strategy for supporting the lab's major IT functions—including the design, development, deployment, maintenance, and upgrade of IT capabilities—and maintains appropriate levels of cybersecurity. 

Lyall came to NREL from Metropolitan State University of Denver, where he was the CIO and associate vice president of academic and student affairs. In that role, he provided strategic leadership, coordination, planning, and management for all enterprise information and instructional technology. He also represented the university regionally and nationally in all IT-related matters.

His experience also includes serving as associate CIO at Kansas State University, where he was responsible for the institution's enterprise server, networking, and telecommunications infrastructure.

Lyall has a bachelor's in biology and chemistry from Missouri Southern State University and a master’s of science and a doctorate of philosophy from Colorado State University.