Biography

Jonathan Piersol is the Associate Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Howard University, where he directs the planning, development and implementation of innovative technologies and leads the Enterprise Technology Services (ETS) organization. He provides leadership for information technology efforts through portfolio & systems management, resource acquisition, new technology evaluation and user consultation.  He is also responsible for developing and successfully executing the IT strategic plan, a comprehensive roadmap for delivering ubiquitous technology services and core applications that support the university’s administrative, research, and academic goals and furthers Howard’s mission of building an interactive, student and research centered institution committed to excellence in teaching and learning.

Mr. Piersol has more than 30 years of experience in the technology industry, rising through the managerial ranks at privately held and publicly traded companies.  Prior to coming to Howard University, he was the vice president and chief information officer at The Thurston Group LLC, a privately-held, minority owned, government contractor specializing in cloud infrastructure, networking and telecommunications technologies.

He has over 15 years of executive leadership experience in large private and public research universities.  Mr. Piersol was the Executive Director & Deputy CIO for University of Maryland, College Park.  He also held several executive leadership positions at the George Washington University, Lucent Technologies Inc., and TeleSpectrum Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: TLSP).  Over the course of his career, he has implemented countless technology systems, deployed several national scale networks, constructed and operated multiple data centers, supported large university campuses, and managed a global IT operation.

He has been successful managing large geographically dispersed technology organizations by setting a clear vision that inspires people to deliver exceptional services and customer support. Mr. Piersol earned his bachelor of science degree in Accounting from Strayer College, a Master of Science degree in information technology from The George Washington University, and an executive MBA from Georgetown University. Jonathan is a certified project management professional (PMP) and a certified information security manager (CISM).   Mr. Piersol is a native Washingtonian and a combat veteran who served honorably in the United States Marine Corps from 1986 to 1992