After many months of searching and deliberation, the Innovate@UCLA Executive Board is extremely happy to announce the selection of Jim Rinaldi as our next Executive Director, effective immediately. Jim brings to the position a wealth of experience as a technology executive across both public and private sector organizations.
Jim served most recently as CIO for over 14 years at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Prior to JPL Jim served as CIO for the Food & Drug Administration and the Internal Revenue Service, as well holding senior technology positions at Marriott International. Currently, Jim remains with JPL as their Chief Technology Advisor, acting as a liaison with government organizations, and consulting with internal JPL organizations on the development of roadmaps and policy recommendations.
He is also serving on the Executive Committee of the Avasant Distinguished Fellows Program. Jim is widely known and respected among the Southern California tech community. He brings an awareness and an appreciation of our organization to the role, having served as our Executive Board Chair from 2017-2019. We are truly fortunate to have Jim stepping into the role at this time.
