Dr. Emily Goldman is set to join the National Security Council’s (NSC) Cyber Office, bringing with her extensive experience in cyber strategy, national security policy, and military innovation. Goldman, who has previously served as a strategist at U.S. Cyber Command and a key advisor on cyber policy at the State Department, is widely recognized for her contributions to cybersecurity strategy and operational planning at the highest levels of government.
Goldman has spent years shaping U.S. cyber policy and doctrine. From 2014 to 2018, she directed the U.S. Cyber Command / National Security Agency Combined Action Group, where she led the team that wrote the 2018 U.S. Cyber Command vision, Achieve and Maintain Cyberspace Superiority. She later served as cyber advisor to the Director of Policy Planning at the Department of State from 2018 to 2019, playing a critical role in shaping diplomatic strategies for cybersecurity and cyber conflict.
Her experience extends beyond cyber policy into strategic communications and counterterrorism. Goldman has worked as a strategic communications advisor at U.S. Central Command and for the Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the State Department, where she supported efforts to enhance information-sharing and security cooperation among U.S. and allied partners.
In addition to her government service, Goldman has had a distinguished academic career. She was a professor of Political Science at the University of California, Davis for two decades, focusing on strategy, military innovation, and national security policy. Her research has influenced how cyber operations are integrated into broader defense and security strategies.
She has also authored and contributed to several key publications on cybersecurity and national security theory. In 2022, she co-authored Cyber Persistence Theory: Redefining National Security in Cyberspace with Michael Fischerkeller and Richard Harknett, published by Oxford University Press. Her most recent work, “The Importance of Analytic Superiority in a World of Big Data and AI,” was published in Cyber Defense Review (2024), where she and co-author Dr. Robert Grossman explored the growing role of artificial intelligence in cyber defense and intelligence analysis.
