The University of Utah has hired Randall (Randy) J. Arvay, chief information security officer (CISO) at Mississippi Medical Center, as the school’s new CISO, effective May 22, 2017.
Prior to his role at the University of Mississippi, he was chief of the cybersecurity and quality assurance in the Joint Spectrum Center for the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). With a $30 million budget and a team of 200 defense and contract employees, he was accountable for all cyber operations in all technical and non-technical aspects of cyberspace and overall information assurance, risk management and regulatory compliance.
“Dr. Arvay comes to the university with a wealth of IT experience in cybersecurity and many accomplishments in computing,” said Stephen Hess, chief information officer for the U. “He understands the issues, policy, technology and risks and has the ability to explain them in simple terms. He will be a good addition to lead our already excellent information security team and will reach out to the campus community to raise our level of IT security.
During his career, Arvay has been a U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, with an exemplary educational background in computer science, information systems and software engineering. He also has significant experience serving as an assistant professor at the United States Naval Academy and as an adjunct instructor with the University of Miami.
“With his unique professional background, which includes information security leadership for a medical center, in addition to technical and faculty experience, we’re extremely pleased that Dr. Arvay will assume the role of CISO for University Health and the main campus,” said James Turnbull, chief information officer, University Health.
Arvay is a certified information systems security professional, project management professional and has top-secret Department of Defense clearance.
“I’m excited for the opportunity to join the UIT leadership team and work with the well-established group of professionals on the security staff as we refine the enterprise security strategy and continue to support operational security for the University of Utah and University Health,” Arvay said.
Corey Roach has been serving as interim CISO since September 2016 and will return to his role as manager for enterprise security.