Chris Milazzo (Photo by John Schreiber, The Daily Campus)

Chris Milazzo is a person students rarely see, but most have probably used the Web site he is in charge of: poni.smu.edu.

“To put it simply,” said Milazzo, the senior systems analyst in the IT Department, “I am in the care and feeding of Poni.”

Poni is the SMU Library System’s online resource guide. Students and faculty can renew books they checked out, find material assigned by professors, and find articles and other online resources there.

Milazzo said his job varies from day to day, but his most important task is upgrading Poni each year. The process can take several months out of the year. In his cubicle cluttered with papers and sports figurines, Milazzo uploads student library records into the system and runs reports on how many times books are checked out.

“Just think of it as a big project management job,” he said.

Milazzo said he is “a very behind the scenes person” because he rarely interacts with students. If he receives a call from students about Poni, he transfers them to the library side.

But working behind the scenes – and working for SMU – runs in the family.

Milazzo’s mother Jeanne works in the business school typing papers and putting together PowerPoint presentations for professors. His brother Joe is the head of government information and maps, and his other brother John is in the Center for Information Processing in Fondren Library.

Milazzo’s dad, Lee, worked as a history professor in the 1970s and was also head of the archives. Milazzo even met his wife, Kelly Milazzo, an assistant registrar, at SMU.

Milazzo’s assistant, Lisa Jue Bishop, said he is a customer-service oriented man whose goal is to serve the libraries.

“Chris is always willing to learn in order to do his job better,” she said.

Milazzo started working for SMU in 1984 while still in high school, delivering mail in the Fondren Library. He eventually attended SMU as a cinema student.

When computers first came to the libraries in 1990, Milazzo said he had an advantage because he was young and had experience working with technology.

“I had to teach some of the people there how to even use a mouse,” he said. “That advantage really helped me get to where I am today.”

After Milazzo graduated, he stayed in the libraries and eventually moved to the tech side of their management systems.

“He is not afraid to tackle any job, is positive toward his work, and optimistic in his outlook,” said Kris Reed, a friend and coworker. “I have seen him move up the ranks from a library courier to his current systems analyst position in ITS.”

Although Milazzo rarely sees students in his job, he does mingle with them when taking classes at SMU. Two years ago, he took Italian for fun. He said he enjoyed the class and made friends with many of the students.

Reed has never doubted Milazzo’s commitment to his friends.

“If you ever need a friend, Chris will always listen,” she said.

His wife, Kelly, said that was one of the traits she first noticed about him.

“One thing I’ve noticed about Chris,” she said, “is that he is very dedicated and loyal to his family and friends.”