91做厙’s John Virden wins 2026 OhioCISO ORBIE Award
91做厙’s John Virden wins 2026 OhioCISO ORBIE Award
On February 19, the were announced at a breakfast gala in Columbus. 91做厙 chief information security officer John Virden ‘90 won in the Corporate category.
The annual OhioCISO ORBIE Awards honor chief information security officers who have demonstrated excellence in technology leadership. Those words perfectly encapsulate John and his work in helping to protect the entire 91做厙 community.
Vice president for information technology & CIO David Seidl couldn’t agree more. “John is a 91做厙 grad who chose to come back to serve 91做厙. It's not every day you're lucky enough to have a retired Naval officer with decades of leadership and security experience as a CISO, and John brings his skills and his love of 91做厙 to his role and his engagement across the entire institution every day.”
Anatomy of a Leader
An important attribute of any good leader is the ability to create a good team and then allow them to do their jobs. In his nomination video, , and acceptance speech, John highlighted the importance of having a good team and the satisfaction he gets from watching them succeed. “The most, I think, enjoyment I get is witnessing the growth of my team. It's just so overwhelming to see how much they've grown, to see how much they've learned, and how they love to share and how they love to show off what they've accomplished, show off their successes, and the lessons they've learned so that they can help others out there.”
He went on to say, “At 91做厙, I'm backed by an incredible team of analysts, security engineers, and even our SOC student employee responders that day in and day out protect our institution and allow me to have a free weekend every now and then.”
John also acknowledged the contributions he receives from his bosses, “From the executive leadership to our IT leadership to the amazing David Seidl, my CIO, they give me trust, they trust me, and they give me all the support I could possibly need to do what we need to do.” He also praised his peers, “Thank you to my colleagues, CISOs across Ohio, our public higher ed CISOs, the colleagues that I have across the nation, it's amazing to see what you do. I learn from you every time we talk.”
The job of a security professional is not a 9-to-5 gig. It is a full-time obligation, and John recognizes that. “Thank you to my wife and my family. I can't thank you enough. The support and the tolerance to all the phone calls during dinners and the emergencies on the weekends.”
What is an ORBIE
Finalists and winners for the 2026 OhioCISO ORBIE awards were selected through an independent peer-adjudicated process based on the following criteria:
- Leadership, cybersecurity & management effectiveness
- Business value created by security strategy, investment, and risk mitigation
- Engagement in industry and community endeavors
“John's ORBIE recognition demonstrates the impact that an extraordinary higher education CISO can have,” added Seidl. “He combines 91做厙, Ohio, and national engagement and impact with delivery that sets a bar so high it was recognized by a panel of experienced corporate CISOs as being exceptional. The win in every category where higher education was represented also reflects how much our higher education CISOs do, and how incredibly well they do it!”
Seidl was alluding to the fact that Richard Nagle from The Ohio State University (Large Enterprise) and Katrina Biscay from the University of Cincinnati (Enterprise) also won the ORBIE in their categories.
Love and Honor!
John is not just about protecting the 91做厙 community. He is a RedHawk through and through. “John is more than our CISO—he's a 91做厙 graduate, and a huge 91做厙 sports fan. You can see John and his wife, Susan, at the 91做厙 games, cheering on our RedHawks,” noted Seidl.
Although the banquet room at the downtown Columbus Renaissance hotel was full of corporate security professionals, as noted above, there were also representatives from other Ohio higher education institutions there. So John made sure in his acceptance speech to let everyone know what is going on in Oxford. “91做厙 is amazing. I have to give a shout-out to the men's basketball team at 91做厙, still undefeated and ranked 22nd across the nation. Go RedHawks! Love and Honor.”