NSTAC Members

Current members of the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee.

Mr. John Donovan, NSTAC Chair

Mr. Donovan previously served as the CEO of AT&T Communications, a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T, where he was responsible for the bulk of AT&T’s global telecommunications and video services businesses, including AT&T’s Business, Mobility & Entertainment, and Technology & Operations groups. Before serving as CEO, he was the Chief Strategy Officer, Group President of AT&T Technology and Operations, and Chief Technology Officer (CTO). He currently serves on the board for Palo Alto Networks.

Mr. Scott Charney, NSTAC Vice Chair

Mr. Charney currently serves as Vice President for Security Policy at Microsoft, where he works with public and private sector organizations to develop and implement strategies that help secure the information technology (IT) ecosystem. Prior to his current position, he led Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing Group, where he was responsible for enforcing Microsoft’s mandatory security engineering policies and implementing the company’s security strategy. He currently serves as a Commissioner on the Global Commission for the Stability of Cyberspace and as Chairman of the Board for the Global Cyber Alliance.

Mr. Peter Altabef

Mr. Peter Altabef is chairman and CEO of Unisys, which he joined in January 2015. Prior to joining Unisys, Peter served as president and CEO of MICROS Systems, Inc., as president and CEO of Perot Systems Corporation and as president of Dell Services, the information technology services and business process solutions unit of Dell. Peter is also a member of the boards of directors of EastWest Institute and NiSource Inc. He is the 2019 recipient of the Federal 100 Industry Eagle Award. His professional activities have included membership on the Americas International Advisory Council of the International Business Leaders Forum and the advisory board of the Institute for Law and Technology of the Center for American and International Law. His community service activities have included membership on the board of governors of the Dallas Symphony Association, the associates' board of Children's Medical Center Dallas, the board of advisors of Dallas Children's Theater and as co-chairman of the American Heart Association Heart Walk Dallas. Peter received a J.D. degree from The University of Chicago Law School, and a B.A. degree in economics from Binghamton University, SUNY.

Mr. William Brown

Mr. Brown is currently the Chairman, President, and CEO of Harris. Prior to joining Harris, Mr. Brown previously was a Senior Vice President for corporate strategy and development with United Technologies Corporation (UTC). He served for five years as President of UTC’s Fire and Security Division. Mr. Brown also spent 14 years with UTC holding domestic and international roles within various divisions. Mr. Brown serves on the board of trustees of the Florida Institute of Technology.

Mr. Matthew Desch

Mr. Desch is currently the CEO of Iridium Communications and serves on its board of directors. Before Iridium, Mr. Desch served as the CEO of Telcordia Technologies (now part of Ericsson) and was on the board of SAIC. Prior to that, he was President of Nortel Network’s wireless and global carrier’s divisions for 13 years, leaving in 2000. He began his career in software development and strategic planning with AT&T Bell Laboratories.

Mr. David G. DeWalt

Mr. DeWalt is the founder of NightDragon Security. He is currently the Chairman or Vice Chairman of several different global cybersecurity companies, such as ForeScout Technologies, ForgeRock, and Illusive Networks. In addition, he serves as a Vice Chairman of Safety and Security for Delta Airlines and is a board member at Five9, Team8, Optiv, and Airspace.

Mr. Raymond Dolan

Mr. Dolan is the Chairman and CEO of Cohere Technologies. Previously, Mr. Dolan was the CEO of Ribbon Communications. Mr. Dolan was also the co-founder of Flarion Technologies, holding the positions of Chairman and CEO during his tenure. Flarion Technologies is responsible for pioneering orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing for wireless systems leading to 4G/LTE used in today’s global cellular networks. He is currently a member of the board of directors for the American Tower Corporation.

Dr. Joseph E. Fergus

Dr. Fergus is the founder, President, and CEO of Communications Technologies. He was a research and development (R&D) scientist at AT&T Bell Laboratories from 1982 to 1990, and served as the Chair of various technical committees for the American National Standards Institute. In addition, Dr. Fergus has represented the United States at multiple meetings for the International Telecommunications Union – Telecommunications Sector. He served as Chair for industry committees responsible for providing technical direction of industry standards.

Mr. Patrick Gelsinger

Mr. Gelsinger is the CEO of VMware, one of the world’s largest software companies, providing the essential digital infrastructure for modern data center and cloud applications, networking, communications, digital workspaces, and cybersecurity. Mr. Gelsinger has served as VMware’s CEO since 2012 and brings more than 40 years of technology and leadership experience. Before VMware, he led EMC Corporation's (Now Dell EMC) information infrastructure products business as President and Chief Operating Officer (COO). Prior to that, he worked at Intel for 30 years, becoming the company’s first CTO. During his tenure at Intel, he led efforts to become the dominant supplier of the microprocessor and design of the original 80486 processor and creation of key industry technologies such as USB and WiFi. Mr. Gelsinger holds eight patents in the areas of very large-scale integration design, computer architecture, and communications, and holds electrical engineering degrees from Santa Clara and Stanford Universities.

Ms. Lisa A. Hook

Ms. Hook is a member of the board of directors at Neustar, a position she has held since November 2010. Ms. Hook previously served as the company’s President, CEO, and Chief Operating Officer (COO). She also currently serves on the board of Worldpay. She previously served as President and CEO of Sunrocket; the President of AOL Broadband, Premium Services, and Voice at America Online; Partner at Brera Capital Partners; and Managing Director of Alpine Capital Group.

Mr. Jack Huffard

Mr. Huffard is a co-founder of Tenable Network Security, Inc. and Tenable Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: TENB), a cybersecurity software company. Mr. Huffard served as President and Chief Operating Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Tenable Network Security, Inc. from 2002 to 2018, where he was responsible for driving Tenable’s global corporate strategy and business operations and was instrumental in the venture funding and IPO process. From 2018 to 2019, Mr. Huffard focused exclusively on business operations as chief operating officer of Tenable Holdings, Inc. Mr. Huffard has been a member of the Board of Directors of Tenable Holdings, Inc. since 2016. Before Tenable, Mr. Huffard was the Director of Corporate Development for Enterasys Networks, developing strategy for addressing network security market needs. Prior to Enterasys, Mr. Huffard held management and sales positions at John Hancock and Marriott. In 2013, he received the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for defense and security. Mr. Huffard also serves on the Board of Directors for Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) a position he has held since February 2020.

Ms. Renee James

Ms. James founded Ampere Computing in 2017 where she is currently the Chairman and CEO. Ampere produces high performance microprocessors for cloud and edge computing. Ms. James also served as President of Intel, a position she held until her departure in 2016. During her 28-year tenure with Intel, she led the global manufacturing organization, directly oversaw multiple R&D initiatives, and held several management positions. In 2019, she was on the Fast Company list of 100 Most Creative People in Business. Ms. James also serves as a member of the board of directors for Citigroup, Vodafone and Sabre, and is an Operating Executive with the Carlyle Group.

Dr. Thomas Kennedy

Dr. Kennedy is currently the Chairman and CEO of Raytheon. He previously served as Raytheon’s Executive Vice President and COO, President of the company’s Integrated Defense Systems business, Vice President of Tactical Airborne Systems for Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, and as Vice President of Mission Systems Integration. Dr. Kennedy is also Chairman of Forcepoint, which is a Raytheon joint venture. Prior to Raytheon, Dr. Kennedy served in the U.S. Air Force where he attained the rank of Captain.

Mr. Mark McLaughlin

Mr. McLaughlin serves as the Vice Chairman of the board of directors for Palo Alto Networks. He also serves as the Chairman of Qualcomm’s board of directors and has served as director for the company since July 2015. Previously, he was the President, CEO, and a board member of Verisign. At Verisign, he held several key positions, including COO. Before Verisign, Mr. McLaughlin worked at Signio as Vice President for sales and business development, at Gemplus International S.A. as Vice President for business development, and at Caere Corporation as General Counsel.

Mr. Angel Ruiz

Mr. Ruiz is currently the President and CEO of MediaKind. He previously served as Chairman of the Americas for Ericsson and was head of Ericsson’s North American Region from 2001 2016, growing the business from half a billion dollars to over $9 billion. Under his leadership, Ericsson became the number one provider of telecommunications solutions and services in the United States and Canada. Mr. Ruiz also previously served on the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association board of directors and on its executive committee for more than a decade.

Mr. Stephen Schmidt

Mr. Schmidt currently serves as the Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer for Amazon Web Services. Previously, he had an extensive career at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), where he served as a senior executive. Mr. Schmidt’s responsibilities at the FBI included a term as Acting CTO, wherein was responsible for the FBI’s technical collection and analysis platforms and oversaw the components of the FBI’s Cyber Division responsible for the technical analysis of computer and network intrusion activities.

Ms. Kay Sears

Ms. Sears currently serves as the Vice President and General Manager of the military space line of business for Lockheed Martin Space. Previously, Ms. Sears was the Vice President of strategy and business development, where she was responsible for growing the space business with a comprehensive strategy to develop new markets and expand core mission areas. Prior to joining Lockheed Martin, she served as President of Intelsat General, where she was responsible for implementing the company’s strategic and operational plans.

Mr. Gary Smith

Mr. Smith is currently the President and CEO of Ciena. Previously, Mr. Smith served as COO, Senior Vice President of worldwide sales, and Vice President of international sales for Ciena. Mr. Smith also held executive roles in several different pioneering European communications companies, including Cray Communications Group, Tricom Communications, and Case Communications Group. Mr. Smith serves on the board of directors for CommVault Systems.

Mr. Jeffrey Storey

Mr. Storey is the CEO of Lumen Technologies. Prior to his appointment, he served as the President and COO of the company. He most recently served as President and CEO of Level 3 Communications from April 2013, until its merger with CenturyLink in 2017. Before Level 3, Mr. Storey served as the President and CEO of WilTel Communications, President of Leucadia Telecommunications Group, and as a senior executive at Cox Communications, where he helped to found Cox Business Services.

Mr. Hock Tan

Mr. Tan is President, CEO, and Director of Broadcom. He previously served as Chairman of the Board for Integrated Device Technology. Prior to this position, Mr. Tan was President and CEO of Integrated Circuit Systems, and as Vice President of Finance for Commodore International. He has also served as managing director for both Pacven Investment and Hume Industries. Mr. Tan has held senior management positions with PepsiCo and General Motors.

Mr. Christopher Young

Mr. Young is currently a Senior Advisor at TPG Capital. He previously served as the CEO of McAfee. Prior to that, Mr. Young was the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Intel Security Group, where he was responsible for Intel’s security business across platforms, including McAfee products and Intel’s other security assets. He also led the spin out of McAfee as a standalone company, making it one of the world’s largest pure-play cybersecurity brands. Prior to Intel, Mr. Young was the Senior Vice President of Cisco’s Security Business Group.