Former Wyoming CIO Appointed as Cyber Institute Director

Bill Vajda, former CIO of both Wyoming and Alaska, has accepted a new position as director of a cybersecurity institute in Michigan.

Vajda will lead the Upper Peninsula Cybersecurity Institute (UPCI), a program that offers non-degree and industry credentials in cybersecurity in upper Michigan. He resigned from his role with the Wyoming Department of Enterprise Technology Services (ETS) in January, about a year after he started in the position. Vajda’s new assignment is in Marquette, Mich., where he served as city manager from 2010 to 2015.

UPCI opened inside Northern Michigan University in 2019 and is sponsored by the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security. It provides non-credit training and programming for cybersecurity areas outside the university's other degrees.

“Bill’s experience is extensive and impressive, and I have no doubt that he has the ability to keep the UPCI and its many services relevant and available to the students (K-12 through postsecondary), workforce and community members of the Upper Peninsula. Marquette is home to Bill, and we are so glad he is back,” said Stephanie Zadroga-Langlois, director of continuing education and workforce development.

Before Vajda’s appointment as the CIO of Wyoming, he was CIO of Alaska where he led the state’s newly consolidated IT agency.