Jen Easterly Biography

Jen Easterly is a globally recognized American cybersecurity and national security expert with extensive experience in the public and private sectors. Hailing from Potomac, Maryland, she graduated as valedictorian and earned a bachelor’s degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point. She also earned a Master’s in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. 

Easterly served over 20 years in the U.S. Army, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. Her military service included intelligence and cyber operations, with deployments to Haiti, the Balkans, Iraq, and Afghanistan. She was instrumental in establishing the Army's first cyber battalion and the United States Cyber Command. She also served as an assistant professor at West Point. She held key roles such as executive assistant to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice (2002–2004) and deputy for counterterrorism at the National Security Agency (2011–2013). From 2013 to 2016, she was a special assistant to President Obama and senior Director for counterterrorism on the National Security Council.

Transitioning to the private sector, Easterly joined Morgan Stanley in 2017 as global head of its Cybersecurity Fusion Center, focusing on combating cyber threats. In July 2021, she was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), serving until January 20, 2025, under the Biden administration.

Post-CISA, Easterly founded Evenstar Cyber, LLC, and became a keynote speaker, sharing cybersecurity and national security insights. She is a Council on Foreign Relations member and a French-American Foundation Young Leader. She has received numerous awards, including two Bronze Stars and the 2018 James W. Foley American Hostage Freedom Award. 

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