Suzanne Spaulding Joins CSIS as Senior Adviser

October 6, 2017

WASHINGTON, October 6, 2017: The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is pleased to announce that Suzanne Spaulding, former under secretary of homeland security for the National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), has joined the International Security Program (ISP) as senior adviser for homeland security. Under Secretary Spaulding will lead a new initiative on strengthening the U.S. judicial system against active measures by Russia and other actors who might seek to undermine it.

“I am pleased to welcome Under Secretary Spaulding to the International Security Program at CSIS,” said Dr. John J. Hamre, CSIS president and CEO. “Her insights will bolster policymaking at a crucial and challenging moment for the strategic planning of homeland security infrastructure in the United States.”

At the Department of Homeland Security, Under Secretary Spaulding managed a budget of $3 billion and led a workforce of 18,000, charged with strengthening the nation’s cybersecurity and protecting its critical infrastructure. She led policy development at the agency, including the 2013 National Infrastructure Protection Plan, and chaired the federal government’s Aviation Cybersecurity Initiative. She helped oversee deployment of the first nationwide broadband network for public safety while a member of the Board of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet).

“Suzanne has spent more than three decades advancing U.S. security in government and the private sector. She is a tremendous addition to the ISP team. We are delighted she is joining us,” said Dr. Kathleen Hicks, senior vice president, Henry A. Kissinger Chair, and director of the International Security Program. “Her vast experience and knowledge of infrastructure protection, cybersecurity, and the law add another layer of expertise to our programming.”

Under Secretary Spaulding has served on several commissions, including the CSIS Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency, and was executive director of two that were congressionally mandated: The National Commission on Terrorism and the Commission to Assess the Organization of the Federal Government to Combat the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. A lawyer by training, she is the former chair of the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Law and National Security and founder of the Cybersecurity Legal Task Force.

Under Secretary Spaulding is currently on the Board of Directors for George Washington University’s Center for Cyber & Homeland Security, the Advisory Board of Harvard University’s Defending Digital Democracy project, and the Aspen Institute’s Homeland Security Group.

She earned her J.D. and B.A. at the University of Virginia.