Van Williams

Vice President of Information Technology Services and
Chief Information Officer

Van is the Vice President of Information Technology Services and Chief Information Officer for the University of California’s $40+ billion-dollar enterprise which spans ten campuses and six health care systems.  As UC’s CIO, Van’s serves as the system’s IT leader and chief strategist for the university, collaborating with campus and health CIOs, and other leaders from across the UC system. Additionally, Van oversees UCOP's IT-related strategic priorities, which include enhancing information security, simplifying and consolidating the portfolio of IT services, further developing the data analytics infrastructure, supporting online and hybrid education and advancing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Prior to his arrival at UCOP, Van was the vice chancellor for information technology and strategic initiatives at UC Santa Cruz, and served as the campus Cyber Risk Executive.  Van oversaw UCSC’s $800M technology organization, and proudly led a staff of 250 talented humans. Through his collaborative leadership, UCSC’s technology operation successfully delivered several campus-wide transformational initiatives, which supported UCSC’s 19,000+ student population, modernized critical campus systems and strengthen UCSC’s cybersecurity. His UCSC portfolio spanned research and innovation, technology enhanced education, cyber risk, enterprise resource planning, business process optimization and strategic corporate partnerships.

Before joining the UC system, Van spent more than 15 years at New York University in various senior roles, including chief information officer for NYU’s Stern School of Business. Van obtained an MBA in Finance, Entrepreneurship and Marketing from Stern and a bachelor’s degree from NYU where he majored in classical civilization (Latin and Ancient Greek) and minored in Chemistry. Van’s professional training and experience is tied to his deep understanding and love of the liberal arts, science, technology and business. Having worked in both private and public university systems, Van is committed to leveraging higher education as key driver of innovation, social mobility and toward creating a healthy society.