Reston domain registry appoints chief tech officer

Rick Wilhelm assumed the role of chief technology officer for the Reston-based nonprofit Public Interest Registry on Monday.

Founded in 2002 by the Internet Society, a Reston-based nonprofit internet advocacy organization, PIR operates the .org top-level internet domain, which is responsible for more than 10.5 million domain names registered worldwide.

“PIR believes that more and stronger mission-driven organizations strengthen our communities, which is why we are pleased to have someone of Rick’s caliber take on the challenge of building out the technology vision so vital to the success of .org,” PIR President and CEO Jon Nevett said in a statement. “We will look to him to guide our efforts as we continually explore innovative ways to improve and secure the infrastructure vital to so many internet users.”

Wilhelm was most recently vice president of platform management for Verisign Inc. He has served in executive positions for Network Solutions LLC and Neustar Inc. and was a member of the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers’ security and stability advisory committee for almost three years.

“Serving as PIR’s CTO is a humbling responsibility,” Wilhelm said in a statement. “I look forward to helping strengthen PIR’s already-stellar technology platforms so we remain the gold standard for domain registries and enable organizations around the globe to help, heal, inspire and serve their communities.”