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Notre Dame College is pleased to announce it has appointed Kirk Herath, J.D., Adjunct Professor, Cleveland State University Cleveland Marshall Law School, and Principal, Pillars Consulting Group, to it’s Board of Trustees.

Herath retired as Vice President, Associate General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer from Nationwide Insurance at the end of 2020.  He has  more than 20 years of legal experience in technology, privacy, information security and cyber law. He worked with Nationwide and its affiliates based in Columbus, Ohio, since 1988. Under his leadership, the company was selected as one of the Top 10 Most Trusted Companies for Privacy six times and number one in the insurance sector by the national Ponemon Institute. The Institute promotes privacy management and the responsible use of information throughout the private and public sectors.

He assumed his six-year term as a Notre Dame trustee in October 2021.

Notre Dame recently launched a cybersecurity major and opened the first of multiple high-tech interactive learning spaces in its $400,000, three-phase project in support of the new bachelor’s degree and related intelligence programs. The College welcomes Herath’s expertise in advancing its mission.

At Nationwide, Herath led a team with  primary responsibility for corporate privacy policy, data privacy and security incident management and implementing privacy across all lines of business. He represented Nationwide’s interests on many industry and business privacy groups and before legislative and regulatory bodies.

His practice group, known as the Office of Privacy, Technology, Information and Contract Services (OPTICS), handled all legal issues impacting confidentiality, privacy, information security, technology and information systems, data integrity and contracts and supply services management.

Herath served as a member of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee from 2005 to 2011. He currently is chair of CyberOhio, Ohio’s Cybersecurity Advisory Board, and a member of the newly formed InnovateOhio Advisory Board under the direction of Lt. Governor Jon Husted and Governor Mike DeWine.

In addition to his role with the Notre Dame Board of Trustees, Herath is past president and past member of the board of the International Association of Privacy Professionals. He is still active within the association. Herath is also President of the Hilliard Development Corporation, which is a non-profit that works in concert with the City of Hilliard, Ohio, to redevelop local land and property.

He speaks regularly on a broad array of privacy, security and technology issues and has edited the foremost privacy practitioners’ resource, the book “How to Build a Privacy Program,” published by the International Association of Privacy Professionals, or IAPP, Press.

Herath received undergraduate degrees in political science and history from the University of Cincinnati and a master’s degree in international affairs from the American University in Washington, D.C. He earned a law degree from Capital University Law School in Columbus and is admitted to the Ohio Bar.

The new Notre Dame trustee is a Certified Information Privacy Professional and a Certified Information Privacy Professional/Government.

October 2021

About Notre Dame College

Notre Dame College is a private, Catholic, liberal arts college in South Euclid, Ohio, committed to teaching students how to make a good living and live a good life. Founded by the Sisters of Notre Dame in 1922, the College offers bachelor’s degrees in 30 disciplines plus a variety of master’s degrees, certification programs and continuing and professional development programs for adult learners on campus and online. For more information, visit NotreDameCollege.edu.