Tim McKula

About Me

Tim McKula is responsible for Shirley Ryan AbilityLab’s research business operations, which encompass the Office of Research Administration, as well as financial and strategic oversight of the organization’s $150 million grant portfolio. In this position, Tim leverages his deep financial and operations skillset to propel the organization’s research engine toward its aggressive goals for strategic growth in sponsored research.

Shirley Ryan AbilityLab maintains the largest research enterprise of its kind in the United States, and arguably the world. Leveraging best practices, Tim is responsible for pre- and post-award management of the organization’s 130-plus active grants.

Tim has more than 35 years’ leadership experience in information technology, business and management consulting in a wide range of industries — including a primary focus in healthcare information services. His particular expertise is in the establishment of IT strategies, management of operations, establishment of program management offices and program management of new business ventures.

Previously, Tim served as Chief Information Officer at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (then the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, or RIC) for nearly 15 years. For a decade leading up to the opening of the organization’s state-of-the-art research hospital in 2017, Tim served as “IT architect” for the development of its complex IT infrastructure, as well as for the integration of various software platforms. Tim and his team supported everything from implementing wireless access points to market-leading software systems embedded into the clinical environment.

Tim earned his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.