Clete Johnson Joins CSIS as a Non-Resident Senior Fellow

February 28, 2017

WASHINGTON: The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is pleased to announce that Clete Johnson has joined the CSIS Technology Policy Program as a non-resident senior fellow. In this role, Mr. Johnson will direct the CSIS Fellowship for Advanced Cyber Studies Project, an initiative to train the next generation of cybersecurity leaders. In addition to his CSIS affiliation, Mr. Johnson is a partner at Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP in Washington, D.C.

“Clete Johnson has played an influential leadership role in developing U.S. cybersecurity policy on Capitol Hill, in the regulatory arena, and in the executive branch,” said Dr. James A. Lewis, CSIS senior vice president. “His perspective is ideal to lead our Fellowship for Advanced Cyber Studies.”

Since 2006, Mr. Johnson has served in a wide variety of cybersecurity roles on Capitol Hill and the executive branch. Mr. Johnson was Secretary Penny Pritzker’s senior adviser for cybersecurity and technology at the U.S. Department of Commerce. Mr. Johnson was the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) first chief counsel for cybersecurity, where he helped define the FCC’s cybersecurity mission. Prior to the FCC, Mr. Johnson was Senator John D. Rockefeller IV’s designated counsel on the Senate Intelligence Committee. In this role, he was a leading staffer on Senate cybersecurity initiatives.

Mr. Johnson served as an officer in the U.S. Army with assignments in Europe and Korea. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, where he was the editor-in-chief of the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law. Mr. Johnson received an MS in international relations from the London School of Economics, and a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.