Carol Sholes, director of information systems for Syracuse Newspapers, has been named to head the department that maintains computer technology and software systems at the Baltimore Sun Co.
Sholes will take over as vice president of information technology by Jan. 2. She will replace Phil Rugile, who resigned July 28.
Sun General Manager John Patinella said Sholes will be in charge of all the computer systems that make the newspaper work, and will take charge of developing new strategic technology projects in the circulation and marketing departments.
"She understands the systems that operate newspapers and the kind of systems that we're going to need in the future to be competitive," Patinella said yesterday.
Sholes has been with Syracuse Newspapers, which is owned by Newhouse Newspapers, since 1992, helping develop software for a new subscriber billing system and make the transition to a more modern system for designing and publishing its newspapers. Headquartered in Syracuse, N.Y., the Newhouse Newspapers company publishes the morning Post-Standard, the evening Syracuse Herald-Journal and the Sunday Herald American.
Before her career in newspapers, Shoals spent a year working on information technology for Carrier Corp. in Syracuse. From 1980 to 1991, she and her husband, Robert J. Wallace, co-owned R J Wallace & Associates, a company that developed custom software for the public and private sectors.
Sholes said the stewards of computers and technology are taking on a more visible role as newspapers enter the Internet age.
"I think information technology will continue to change the way newspapers do business, not only from news gathering and printing operations but also from the business side with how we interact with advertisers and interact with subscribers," she said.
