Bob Fabien “BZ” Zinga is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Santa Clara University and an Information Warfare Commander (CDR) in the U.S. Navy Reserve, who is currently serving as the Commanding Officer (CEO-equivalent) of a seventy-two-member unit supporting the dual-hatted Commander of Naval Network Warfare Command (NETWARCOM) and Commander Task Force (CTF) 1010. He has more than 26 years of certified Information Technology experience with expertise in leadership, secure enterprise information technology business operations, and corporate governance in several industries including Higher Education, Federal Government, Defense Industrial Complex, Tech, and Consulting.
He holds two Master’s Degrees in Business Administration (MBA) and Management (MSM) specializing in Naval Operations & National Security from the University of Maryland University College (UMUC), a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry: Biology from the University of Alabama (U.A.), and has studied at Harvard University, the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), the Naval War College (NWC), the Defense Acquisition University (DAU), the Global Maritime and Transportation School (GMAT), and the National Defense University (NDU).
Bob holds several technical certifications, including Project Management Professional (PMP®), Certified Information Systems Security Management Professional (CISSP®-ISSMP®), Certified Chief Information Security Officer (C|CISO), Certified Ethical Hacker (C|EH), Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT), Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer: SECURITY (MCSE:SECURITY), and VMware Certified Professional (VCP)- to name a few.
Prior to assuming his current position at Santa Clara University, Bob served as the Head of Security and IT at Directly, an emerging leader in Customer Experience Automation (CXA), helping companies deliver better customer service at scale while creating economic opportunity for people in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) era. Prior to Directly, Bob served as the fractional CISO at Truvantis, the leader in providing holistic, world-class information security expertise within reach for small and mid-sized companies and individual departments, balancing security, practicality, and cost. Prior to Truvantis, Bob served as the Information Security Manager at Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN), the global leader of hyper-local commerce, offering consumers a vast mobile and online marketplace to discover and save on unbeatable local deals worldwide. Prior to Groupon, Bob served as the Senior Security Engineer of Pivotal Software Inc., the global leader at the intersection of big data, PaaS, and agile development. Prior to Pivotal, Bob served as the Director of Cybersecurity and Privacy for the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, CA, and as a Senior Security Engineer for his alma mater- the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, AL, respectively.
Bob serves as an advisor & Co-Chair of the Communications and Technology Committee of Santa Clara University Silicon Valley Executive Center Black Corporate Board Readiness Readiness (BCBR) Alumni Advisory Council (AAC), ensuring that the BCBR Alumni experience remains centered in strategic planning and programming for the BCBR community. Bob is also an Executive Board Advisor for United Cybersecurity Alliance, a global non-profit organization in the business of transforming the “Faces of Cybersecurity” by creating unique opportunities for women and minorities to join the cybersecurity field. Bob is finishing out his second term as a Board Director for AZ Cyber Initiative, a leading innovative non-profit 501c(3) corporation dedicated to developing the next generation of Arizona cybersecurity professionals, capable of exceeding the expectations of the evolving digital workforce of the future. Bob is a member of the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council, where he provides insight to shape the content and perspective ideas from the broader world of management and leadership. He has served as a Board Director of the Westmount Community Association, Board Manager of the Central YMCA, and Industry Advisor Board Member for Catalyst Operating Advisors in the San Francisco Bay Area, CA, where he lives with his wife Demetria, two daughters, and exuberant Shih Tzu.