Louis Lessem, Wayne State Vice President and General Counsel and Daren Hubbard, Interim Associate Vice President and Chief Information Officer announced today that the University has appointed its first Information Privacy Officer, Geoffrey S. Nathan. In this newly created role, he will lead efforts to safeguard private, digitally accessible information, ensure compliance with privacy laws and regulations and develop campus-wide privacy awareness initiatives.

As emerging technologies make access to personal data easier, privacy has become an increasingly important consideration. Privacy allows people the autonomy to manage their reputations and maintain control and personal freedoms. At the university level, personal data can be found almost anywhere across campus and it is critical the information is used appropriately and protected from unauthorized release. The Information Privacy Office will lead a campaign to ensure that any information Wayne State University holds about its students, faculty and staff remains accessible only to those with a need to know.

Nathan is also a professor in Wayne State's Linguistics Program and has been Faculty Liaison to the Computing & Information Technology division for the past thirteen years. He will work closely with the Chief Information Officer, the Office of the General Counsel, Institutional Research, and the Office of Research.

Nathan earned a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Hawaii and writes the ProfTech blog. You can contact him at geoffnathan@wayne.edu with questions or comments about university privacy.