David Wanjiru started Nov. 2 as CIO of the California State Library, where he will manage the Information Technology Bureau.
The California State Library is the central reference and research library for state government and the Legislature, provides research to policymakers and the executive branch, and preserves California's historical items.
Wanjiru has worked for the past 25 years in various IT positions for the state of California, most recently as the infrastructure services manager for the California Highway Patrol.
He also held positions at the departments of Water Resources and Transportation, California Energy Commission, and taught at the University of Phoenix.
Wanjiru is participating in the state's Information Technology Leadership Academy 23 and is on the 2016 Government Transformation Forum Advisory Board.
His IT portfolio work includes the procurement and project implementation of a $40 million computer aided dispatch system, currently in use at the CHP, Department of Parks and Recreation, and Fish and Wildlife; build-out of CHP’s Tier III Data Center; California Email Services migration at CHP; statewide network modernization and wireless services implementation; initialization and support for the departmental FI$Cal; and the police body-worn camera projects.
Wanjiru was born in Nairobi, Kenya, where he attended high school, before getting a bachelor’s degree in physics and computer science at Principia College in Alton, Ill. He also has an MBA from California State University Sacramento.
He is a member of the Civil Air Patrol, and enjoys flying, travelling, reading books, hiking, biking and spending time with his two sons and coaching their soccer teams.
