Larry Ponemon

Dr. Larry Ponemon is the Chairman and Founder of the Ponemon Institute, a research “think tank” dedicated to advancing privacy, data protection and information security practices. Dr. Ponemon is considered a pioneer in privacy auditing and the Responsible Information Management (RIM) framework. Security Magazine named him one of the “Most Influential People for Security.”

Ponemon Institute conducts independent research, educates leaders from the private and public sectors and verifies the privacy and data protection practices of organizations in a various industries. In addition to institute activities, Dr. Ponemon is an adjunct professor for ethics and privacy at Carnegie Mellon University’s CIO Institute. He is a fellow of the Center for Government Innovation at the Unisys Corporation.

Dr. Ponemon consults with leading multinational organizations on global privacy management programs. He has extensive knowledge of regulatory frameworks for managing privacy and data security, including financial services, health care, pharmaceutical, telecom and Internet. Dr. Ponemon was appointed to the Advisory Committee for Online Access and Security for the United States Federal Trade Commission. The White House appointed him to the Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee for the Department of Homeland Security. He was also appointed to two California State task forces on privacy and data security laws.

Dr. Ponemon is a member of the National Board of Advisors of the Eller College of Business and Public Administration, University of Arizona. He served as former chairman of the Government Policy Advisory Committee and co-chair of the Internet Task Force for the Council of American Survey and Research Organizations (CASRO).

Dr. Ponemon was a senior partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he founded the firm’s global compliance risk-management group. Prior to joining PricewaterhouseCoopers as a partner, Dr. Ponemon served as the National Director of Business Ethics Services for KPMG Peat Marwick and was appointed Executive Director of the KPMG Business Ethics Institute.

Dr. Ponemon has held chaired (tenured) faculty positions and published numerous articles and educational books. He has presented hundreds of keynote speeches and learned presentations at national and international conferences on privacy, data protection, information security, corporate governance and responsible information management. Dr. Ponemon is an active member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals and founding member of the Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP) Advisory Board.

Dr. Ponemon is a column editor for Computerworld, CSO Magazine, BNA, Dark Reading and other leading publications. He is a frequent commentator on privacy and business ethics for CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Financial Times, Bloomberg, Business 2.0, Newsweek, Business Week, U.S. News & World Report, CIO Magazine, Industry Standard, Boston Globe, InfoWorld, InformationWeek, Forbes, Fortune, CFO Magazine, Dow Jones News and others.

Dr. Ponemon earned his Ph.D. at Union College in Schenectady, New York. He has a Master’s degree from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and he attended the doctoral program in system sciences at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dr. Ponemon earned his Bachelor’s with Highest Distinction from the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Information Privacy Professional.

Dr. Ponemon is a veteran (Vietnam War era) of the United States Navy. He is married and has two sons. Dr. Ponemon is also an instrument rated private pilot.