Laurence named ITAA interim president as Miller chases Senate seat

Sybase's Robert Laurence will serve as interim president of the Information Technology Association of America, succeeding Harris Miller, who said he might announce his candidacy for the U.S. Senate next week.

Miller, who resigned from the ITAA Wednesday, said he is considering running as the Democratic challenger against GOP incumbent George Allen of Virginia, who is up for re-election in November.

The ITAA board of directors appointed Laurence to lead the group while ITAA searches for a permanent president. Laurence will continue with Sybase Inc. while serving with ITAA.

Laurence is vice president of public sector with Sybase of Dublin, Calif., which offers enterprise software products and services to assist customers in managing and transferring information from data centers to point of use.

Laurence has been active in ITAA since the early 1990s. His past service to ITAA includes stints as chairman, vice chairman and a member of the board of directors, as well as a member of the Enterprise Solutions board of directors. He also served as chairman of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance, of which ITAA is the secretariat.

In a written statement announcing his appointment, Laurence said he plans to focus on helping ITAA continue building membership and programs.

Originally posted at 3:49 p.m., Jan. 5. Updated at 10:00 a.m., Jan. 6.