Maria Thompson’s official last day with the North Carolina Department of Information Technology (NCDIT) was June 5, according to an emailed statement from agency secretary and state CIO Jim Weaver.
Rob Main, who had been deputy chief risk officer under Thompson, has stepped in to replace her on an interim basis, Weaver said. The department intends to start recruitment for a full-time chief risk officer.
“[Thompson] built a state cybersecurity program that is considered a national model,” Weaver said. “Although we are saddened to lose Thompson on the team, we are confident that the excellent work and the whole-of-state approach to cybersecurity that she led will continue.”
Main joined NCDIT in 2017, following on chief information officer roles with the N.C. Department of Military and Veteran Affairs, N.C. Office of State Human Resources and N.C. Department of Insurance. Both Main and Thompson are veterans, Weaver noted.
During her tenure, Thompson led her team in developing an integrated statewide information risk management framework and established a Cyber Task Force that provides cybersecurity defense and recovery support to academic institutions, as well as state and local agencies, Weaver said.
She also leaves her mark as the inaugural chief risk officer, entering the role in 2015 as former Governor Pat McCrory’s administrationrestructured agency operations to create the Department of Information Technology, and continuing to serve during the current governor Roy Cooper’s administration.
Prior to her work as chief risk officer, Thompson had served in public- and private-sector roles, including for defense contractor Imperatis and in the Marine Corps.
