Les McCollum II

Les McCollum II is the CISO of Howard University, appointed in June 2026.

Career path

Before joining Howard University, McCollum served as Chief Information Security Officer of UChicago Medicine, a title he held when he appeared at the University of Chicago's 2023 Cybersecurity Awareness Month Symposium.

A biography published for that symposium states, "Les is a Chief Information Security Officer and general security professional with 25 years experience."

The same profile describes him as having a background as a security strategist, public speaker, and mentor.

His move to Howard University marks a second run in the chief information security officer role after his time leading security at UChicago Medicine.

Public speaking

At the UChicago symposium, McCollum joined fellow Chief Information Security Officer Matt Morton for a session titled Ask a CISO, fielding questions from IT professionals attending the event.

He also appeared alongside Morton in an afternoon panel discussion held as part of the symposium's program, listed among the day's standout sessions.

That same day's agenda placed his panel alongside sessions from Heather Stratford, founder and CEO of Drip7, and Karen Habercoss, chief privacy officer of UChicago Medicine, reflecting the breadth of security and privacy topics covered at the event.

The one-day symposium at which McCollum spoke was organized around stated goals for the gathering of information technology professionals.

Alongside his panel, the program that day included a session on password research presented by Blase Ur, an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science, illustrating the range of technical and research-security topics addressed at the event where McCollum presented.

The symposium concluded with a networking hour that gave attending faculty and staff the chance to discuss the day's sessions, including McCollum's panel appearance.