Keever named MSU executive director of high performance computing

Contact: James Carskadon

STARKVILLE, Miss.—A veteran information technology and research computing administrator is taking the helm of Mississippi State University’s nationally recognized high performance computing initiatives.

Following a national search, Mark Keever has been named executive director of high performance computing, bringing more than 20 years of higher education HPC experience to the role. Keever, who joined the university earlier this month, most recently served as executive director of Advanced Research Computing Services at Oregon State University.

In the new role, he will oversee the computing resources housed under the umbrella of the Applied Research Collaboratory, formerly the High Performance Computing Collaboratory. Kever also will guide university-level strategy to expand research computing resources and HPC-related funding opportunities.

“Mark brings a strong track record of leadership and technical knowledge as we look to grow MSU’s capabilities in the fast-changing world of high-performance computing,” said Scott Willard, interim vice president for research and economic development. “Mark will enhance MSU’s reputation as a leader in this field and work to provide the critical technology resources that are advancing research and innovation on our campus.”

Keever’s academic experience includes administrative positions at Oregon State, Vanderbilt University and Georgia Tech. In those roles, he oversaw major infrastructure upgrades such as a new data center and supercomputer at Oregon State. He also directed strategies to ensure compliance with a range of federal security standards.

Keever said his goal at MSU is to strengthen a people-centered, mission-aligned computing environment that supports discovery, service and long-term growth.

“Mississippi State has established an impressive research computing enterprise with deep institutional and federal significance,” he said. “I’m honored to join the university and look forward to building scalable, secure and sustainable capabilities that help researchers turn ambitious ideas into impact.”

Keever earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from Georgia State University and a master’s in information systems from Kennesaw State University.

MSU’s high performance computing resources include two systems, Orion and Hercules, managed on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. MSU also manages the Atlas cluster for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service. Two additional clusters, Morrill and Ptolemy, support researchers on campus. Combined, MSU’s systems add up to approximately 15 PetaFLOPS of computing power, enough to conduct 15 quadrillion calculations per second.

The university has a robust history in high performance computing, with 10 systems, including Orion and Hercules, ranking among the top 500 in the world since 1996. MSU recently completed construction of a 10,000-square-foot HPC data center in the Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park. 

In addition to HPC resources, the Applied Research Collaboratory also manages a robust enterprise IT, networking, storage and security compliance operation to support controlled research.

Mississippi State University is taking care of what matters. Learn more at www.msstate.edu.