John Mulhern III

John Mulhern III has worked at the University of Pennsylvania for almost 35 years. He is currently Principal Technology Advisor, a role in which he focuses on the computing needs of everyone from first-year students to emeritus faculty members. He leads University-wide client architecture planning, testing, and implementation, developing standards, choosing supported products, and tracking emerging technologies. John also manages technical vendor relations, interacting extensively with the University’s technology vendors, providing extensive feedback on products and services, and testing pre-production hardware and beta software.

After serving as an avionics technician in the U.S. Navy, John attended Drexel University, receiving a BS in Information Systems with concentrations in artificial intelligence, database development, and human interface design. While at Drexel, he studied under the mentorship of Dr. Stephen Andriole.

John has presented many times to various groups at the University and elsewhere. Examples from the last several years include John Was Wrong (November 2021), University Desktop Recommendations: Process and Products (April 2024), Penn Technology by the Numbers, Version 5.0 (October 2024), The State of AI at Penn Today (December 2024), and CES 2025 From a Penn Perspective (January 2025). He serves on multiple advisory boards and councils with vendors including Apple, Dell, Lenovo, and Microsoft.