Former CISA Director Jen Easterly is returning to the United States Military Academy at West Point, where she has been named the new Robert F. McDermott Distinguished Chair in the Department of Social Sciences, according to a post on LinkedIn.
Easterly’s appointment brings one of the nation’s most accomplished leaders in cybersecurity and national security back to where her journey began. A 1990 graduate of West Point, Easterly previously served as an assistant professor of economics at the academy earlier in her career. Now, after decades of groundbreaking public service, she returns in a senior academic leadership role designed to connect cadets with deep real-world expertise.
The McDermott Chair is a prestigious position established to bring senior leaders to West Point who can bridge scholarship and practice, preparing future military officers to lead in an increasingly complex world.
Most recently, Easterly led the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), where she was responsible for protecting U.S. critical infrastructure from cyber and physical threats. Under her leadership, CISA expanded into a $3 billion agency with more than 10,000 personnel, becoming a key force in defending the digital front lines of national security.
Before joining CISA, Easterly served as Head of Firm Resilience at Morgan Stanley, where she stood up the financial giant’s Cybersecurity Fusion Center to defend against emerging cyber threats.
Her earlier public service includes helping establish U.S. Cyber Command and building the Army’s first cyber battalion. She also held senior roles at the National Security Agency (NSA), including as Deputy for Counterterrorism and as part of Tailored Access Operations—the agency’s elite hacking team. Twice, she served at the White House: under President Obama as Special Assistant and Senior Director for Counterterrorism, and under National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice as a senior policy advisor.
Easterly is also a Rhodes Scholar with a master’s from Oxford, a two-time Bronze Star recipient, and a recognized voice in national security circles. Her numerous honors include the George C. Marshall Award in Ethical Leadership and the Girls Who Code Sisterhood Award.
She succeeds Ambassador Douglas Lute, whose own tenure as McDermott Chair helped set a high bar for excellence in scholarship and leadership. Easterly’s appointment continues that tradition, bringing a powerful combination of military service, government leadership, and private sector innovation back to the classroom.
(AI was used in part to facilitate this article.)
