McCreary has held a host of positions in the private and public sectors since starting as a programmer/analyst with the state in 1971 — senior systems engineer, senior marketing rep, software consultant, advisory systems engineer, director of technical services, information security consultant, senior information systems analyst, and information security and privacy officer.
His areas of expertise have included data privacy, compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), cybersecurity, risk assessment, digital recovery, marketing and sales.
In a “friends and colleagues” letter that McCreary shared with Techwire, the IT veteran said:
“After over 20 years working as both a consultant and employee of CalPERS I’ve decided it’s time to move on. My last day at CalPERS will be May 31, 2018. … After that, I will be collecting retirement and spending more time with my family.
“During my long association with CalPERS I’ve had the privilege to work with many wonderful people, and those connections will be missed. Some of you may have even been around long enough to remember that Jeff Lung and I started the CalPERS Information Security Office back in 1996 … and it went on to become a model for many other State agencies. Since then many things at CalPERS have changed, but I believe CalPERS’ future is bright if everyone continues to practice our Core Values of Quality, Respect, Accountability, Integrity, Openness, and Balance.
“Thank you for your support over the years … and stay in touch.”
During his career, McCreary worked for IBM, which included work on early versions of bank automated tellers and the Electronic Fund Transfer System. While with the state, he worked at the Health & Welfare Agency Data Center, the Teale Data Center and the Law Enforcement Data Center.
McCreary, 67, plans to continue serving on the Governor’s Cybersecurity Task Force and to speak out to the California Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee.
When not offering his views to the committee and serving on the task force, McCreary enjoys traveling, skiing, sailing and scuba diving.
