ITS Welcomes New Staff to Our Team!

We are pleased to announce and welcome new staff to our Information Technology Services team! 

Aaron Culler , IT Security Director

Before UNCW, Aaron was a Senior Cybersecurity Analyst and Lead for GDIT supporting the Army National Guard Enterprise and 54 states and territories. Aaron primarily assisted in incident response, vulnerability management, policy review, and application firewall whitelisting/vetting.

As UNCW’s Director of IT Security, Aaron will:

• Lead his team in preparing and responding to security incidents promptly and effectively
• Establish and enforce security policies and procedures
• Manage secure infrastructure, networks, and systems
• Provide guidance and direction on security matters to executive leadership and key stakeholders across campus

Blake Daniels, Assistant Director Enterprise Systems Support, Data Management & Architecture

Before UNCW, Blake was a Solutions Architect for companies such as RCC Data, Sigma Computing, and ThoughtSpot, optimizing clients' data architecture, analytics approaches, use case development, user engagement, and change management processes.

Blake is responsible for ensuring that enterprise software systems are supported and available and that new technologies are leveraged in an ever-changing landscape of university capabilities. The Data Architect helps set enterprise architecture in terms of platform, tooling, integration, and data management, making sure the overall enterprise architecture design meets the university's security and functional needs.  

Zerek Olson , Governance & Risk Information Privacy Officer

Zerek is responsible for the operational oversight of:

• IT and data governance procedures and practices
• IT risk management assessments
• Information privacy regulatory and legal compliance

This position acts as the liaison for key organizations across campus and with appointed Data Stewards in reviewing and assessing information resource use.

Zerek also leads contract reviews of third-party engagements and procurements that rely on the use of university data by facilitating the collaborative efforts of partners in the Office of General Counsel, Finance, and ITS.