John Ramsey
Vice President, Information Security and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)
Building a culture of cyber readiness isn’t just about implementing security tools. It’s about empowering every individual to be a line of defense. Our collaborative effort, which is grounded in education and awareness, is the most effective way to safeguard sensitive data and maintain the trust of our clients. Preparing now to secure our future state allows us to be ready for malicious threats rather than reacting to what might be coming at us.
John Ramsey has served as the Clearinghouse’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) since 2017, and is responsible for the organization’s overall security strategy, security program oversight, and security architecture development across its multiple cloud environments. Under his leadership, the Clearinghouse’s Cybersecurity team was selected as a Top 50 Information Security Team as part of the esteemed OnCon Icon Awards in 2025 and 2024. Mr. Ramsey was named a recipient of the Top 100 CISOs award from CISOs Connect™ in 2025, 2024, and Hot Topics Global CISOs award in 2017.
During his tenure at the Clearinghouse, Mr. Ramsey has become a cybersecurity thought leader within the education industry. In collaboration with REN-ISAC (Research & Education Networks Information Sharing & Analysis Center), he leads a user group with over 900 members across eight countries aimed at continuously improving cybersecurity across the entire education industry space.
Prior to the Clearinghouse, Mr. Ramsey served as the CISO for the U.S. House of Representatives and as the CISO for the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, which oversees the world’s largest defined contribution retirement plan. He also managed security operations for the Department of the Army and Department of State. During his time with Department of the Army, he served in Operation Desert Storm and was awarded the Bronze Star.
Mr. Ramsey holds a bachelor’s degree in Information Systems Management from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in Information Systems Management from the University of Central Florida. He maintains numerous licenses and certifications to ensure he stays current in the cybersecurity field, including ISC2’s Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and ISACA’s Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), and Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC). He also completed Harvard University’s intensive “Cybersecurity: The Intersection of Policy and Technology” program.
