Donna Kidwell named Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Deputy Chief Information Officer (CIO) at University of Toronto

The University of Toronto announced Donna Kidwell as its newly appointed Chief Information Security Officer and Deputy Chief Information Officer on April 29, 2024. Kidwell was set to join the university on May 27, 2024. She previously served as Deputy CIO and Chief Information Security and Digital Trust Officer at Arizona State University.

According to the ITS announcement, Kidwell will head information security and IT governance at the University of Toronto. The appointment was announced by Bo Wandschneider, Chief Information Officer of Information Technology Services at the University of Toronto.

According to the announcement, Kidwell has worked for 18 years in information technology roles at large R1 public institutions. She also had a part in carrying out the information security strategic plan at ASU, according to the ITS newsroom. The announcement says Kidwell spent a three year tenure as Chief Technology Officer at EdPlus. Kidwell's academic background, the announcement says, lies in the commercialization of science and technology. According to the announcement, she was executive sponsor of the Trusted Learner Network and worked on reimagining digital credentials. She holds a Doctor of Business Administration in Innovation from Grenoble Ecole de Management, the announcement says. Kidwell also has a Masters of Science in Technology from McCombs Business School at the University of Texas at Austin.

The announcement says her approach to cyber security includes building stronger ties with national partners such as CANARIE / CanSSOC. According to the announcement, Deyves Fonseca had served as acting CISO for the previous several months. Deyves Fonseca will return to his earlier post as Associate Director, Information Security Operations, and will also become Deputy CISO, the announcement says.