NBCUniversal has hired Greg Jackson for the newly created VP-university outreach position. His role is to serve as liaison with colleges to educate students on legal ways to obtain digital movies, TV programs and other online material. Jackson reports to Rick Cotton, executive VP/general counsel.

greg jackson

Cotton said in a statement that the new position is "critically important part of our long-term campaign to highlight legitimate online outlets for TV and movies, while at the same time educating key audiences about the corrosive impact of digital theft on employment."

Most recently, Jackson was VP-policy at EDUCAUSE, where he was responsible for advocacy on behalf of its advanced core technologies initiative, which covers the use of the .edu 'Net domain. He represented EDUCASE on the joint committee of the Higher Education and Entertainment Communities, a group that includes the American Assn. of Universities, Recording Industry Assn. of America and the Motion Picture Assn. of America.

From '96 to '09, Jackson was VP-chief information officer at the University of Chicago, managing its 300-member staff and $70M IT group. He joined UC from the Massachusetts of Technology, where Jackson was director of academic computing.

Cotton believes Jackson's "extensive experience as a technologist and broad-based knowledge of the university environment combine to make him a highly credible ambassador" who can reach out to the university community regarding "a very serious issue."