Spotlight: Vidhya Narayanan

In November, HSIS welcomed Vidhya Narayanan as IT Director, Software Solutions & Engineering. Vidhya will oversee teams providing software and analytics support and manage related vendor relationships. She will also participate as an advisory group member for the new campus health system for routine immunizations, building on the lessons learned from the current COVID-19 health and safety guidelines. Working with key stakeholders, Vidhya will lead the development of a roadmap for health sciences software applications and reporting and analytics portfolios, ensuring the future direction and functional capabilities align with institutional priorities.   

While new to the HSIS team, Vidhya is not new to Yale. She joined Yale in 2008 and has worked with the Advancement Technologies team in various capacities, most recently as the Associate Director of Software Development. During this time, she successfully led several transformative projects for the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs including the implementation of Hopper (Alumni and Donor System at Yale), the Hopper Data Warehouse, the Workday conversion, ALICE replacement, and various other campaign readiness projects.  

When asked to reflect on her favorite Yale memory to date, Vidhya reconnected a time she and a colleague decided to “explore Yale” during their lunch hour. “We explored any building that our badge would give us access to like the Yale Art Gallery, Yale Centre of British Art, Yale Peabody Museum, Sterling Library, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale Collection of Musical Instruments, The Commons and The Leitner Family Observatory and Planetarium to name a few. Learning about the history, architecture and cultural heritage being preserved in these buildings, gave us an appreciation of the scope of resources available to the students, faculty, and staff at Yale.  It made me feel proud of the small part I play in helping Yale preserve this for future generations.” 

Born and raised in south India, Vidhya has a B.E. in Electronics and Power Engineering from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology. Before joining Yale and working in higher education, Vidhya worked for Hartford Life Insurance, ESPN, and British Telecommunications.