Lauren Steinfeld Takes On New Leadership Role at Penn

The University of Pennsylvania Office of Audit, Compliance and Privacy announced that it has restructured its leadership in the privacy and compliance functions.

The Office of Institutional Compliance (OIC) will continue to be led by IAPP Board member Lauren Steinfeld, CIPP, who has served as Chief Privacy Officer since January 2002. In addition, Steinfeld now serves as Institutional Compliance Officer, bringing her experience in developing a leading model for organizational change in privacy to the compliance function as well.

Steinfeld had been serving as interim Institutional Compliance Officer since last fall while continuing to serve as the first Chief Privacy Officer in a major institution of higher education. She has helped build the privacy program at Penn, with a focus on raising awareness about privacy risks and choices and mitigating risk through programs involving SSN-remediation, protection of alumni data, and expansion of privacy information available to Web site visitors. The privacy program also focuses on compliance activities around HIPAA, FERPA and other laws, as well as IT privacy controls.

Steinfeld began her career in privacy working as Attorney Advisor to Federal Trade Commissioner Mozelle W. Thompson and then as Associate Chief Counselor for privacy at the Office of Management and Budget in the Clinton Administration. She has a J.D. from NYU Law School and graduated phi beta kappa and magna cum laude with her B.A. from Penn.

Another IAPP member, Maura Johnston, also recently joined the university's privacy office as Assistant Privacy Officer. Johnston previously served for six years at Temple University Health System, first as Special Assistant to the Chief Medical Officer then as Director of Medical Affairs Operations, where she coordinated aspects of system-level risk management, clinical quality improvement and patient safety programs. Prior to that, she had extensive experience in law and healthcare, working for the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services as Director of Health Care Financing Systems, as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in an Independent Agency Law Department, and as Deputy Attorney General, Litigation Section in Harrisburg, Penn. Johnston earned an M.B.A. from Wharton, a J.D. from Penn Law and a B.A. from Clark University.