McCrary Institute at Auburn University adds six new senior fellows

WASHINGTON, D.C. - McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security at Auburn University announced on Thursday, May 30, it has added six more senior fellows to its 2024 cohort, adding expertise in cybersecurity and national security across government and the private sector.

The additions are:

John Katko - A former Congressman from New York who spent nearly 20 years as a federal prosecutor focusing on organized crime. Katko was Ranking Member on the House Homeland Security Committee, where he advocated for a focus on cybersecurity

Brad Medairy - Medairy is an Executive Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton, serving as the firm’s senior executive for cybersecurity. He serves national level clients on cyber missions, including U.S. Cyber Command, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency, the Department of Defense and the intelligence community.

Christopher D. Roberti - Senior Vice President for Cyber, Space, and National Security Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Roberti leads the team at the U.S. Chamber responsible for national security issues including cybersecurity, space, defense, and ICTS security.

Bradon Rogers - Rogers is the Chief Customer Officer at Island, the pioneer in enterprise internet browsers. An Auburn University graduate, Rogers served on the executive leadership teams of Symantec, Bluecoat, McAfee and others prior to Island. Rogers is also the co-author of "Security

Battleground: An Executive Field Manual"; a book that gives security and technology guidance to executives who may not have experience in those fields.

Kiersten Todt - Todt is the president of Wondros, a creative firm dedicated to solving complex communications and strategic challenges. She is the former Chief of Staff of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) where she was responsible for the planning, allocation of resources, and development of long-range objectives in support of the department's goals

Bryan Ware - Ware served as Assistant Secretary of Cyber Policy at DHS and as the first Presidentially appointed Director for Cybersecurity at CISA. He is an entrepreneur, having been the CEO of five companies - Digital Sandbox, Haystax Technology, Next5 and LookingGlass - all serving the national security community, law enforcement and/or major brands. Ware currently serves on the boards of companies and non-profits including the CyberGuild, an organization seeking to increase cyber awareness and diversity in the cyber workforce.

“We are thrilled to have these six esteemed individuals joining the McCrary Institute,” said Frank Cilluffo, director of the institute. “They add considerable expertise to our public policy initiatives and our efforts to strengthen public-private partnerships with their years of experience. From cybercrime to cutting-edge technology to bridging the private-public divide, all of them will help us with our goal to make our country a safer place in light of the new and growing threats we face in cyberspace.”

The six new senior fellows join 27 other new senior fellows who were announced in February. Fellows rotate and serve for three years.

The McCrary Institute, founded in 2015 at Auburn University, concentrates on sound cybersecurity policy, cybersecurity education and applied research in cybersecurity. In 2022, there were 2,385 ransomware attacks reported to the FBI. More than one-third of those were attacks on U.S. critical infrastructure organizations.

For full bios, see below or visit our website at: https://eng.auburn.edu/mccrary/senior-fellows

McCrary Institute Senior Fellows Bios

John Katko, Former Congressman, Former Ranking Member, Homeland Security Committee

John Katko is an accomplished leader who served Central New York in Congress from 2015 until his retirement in 2022.

Early in his career in Congress, John became a strong voice on the House Homeland Security Committee. In 2020, he was selected to lead House Homeland Security Committee Republicans. As Ranking Member, John led efforts to secure the border and prioritized a robust focus on cybersecurity, as well as transportation and airport security. Additionally, John served eight years as a member of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.

While serving New York’s 24th Congressional District, John achieved significant legislative success, with 98 bills passed the House and 45 signed into law. Through his advocacy, John delivered millions of dollars to his district in Central New York.

John has strong relationships in New York and Washington across the political spectrum. He is well-respected for his work across the aisle and was consistently ranked among the most bipartisan members of Congress by the nonpartisan Lugar Center. As Chair of the Republican Governance Group, John was responsible for expanding political engagement with results-oriented Members of Congress.

Prior to serving in Congress, John spent nearly twenty years as a federal organized crime prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice, prosecuting hundreds of complex criminal cases including organized crime, drug and human trafficking, murder, and political corruption. He has extensive experience on the U.S. Northern, Southern, and Maritime borders. Additionally, he served as a litigator with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission and as an anti-trust and commercial litigation attorney in private practice.

John and his wife Robin live in Camillus, New York and enjoy spending time with their three adult sons.

Brad Medairy, Executive Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton

Brad Medairy is an Executive Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton where serves as the Firm’s senior executive for cybersecurity. He spends his time on the cyber missions of national-level clients, including the intelligence community, U.S. Cyber Command, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Department of Defense (DOD). He is responsible for addressing some of the nation’s top cybersecurity challenges, including protecting critical infrastructure, securing the supply chain, protecting emerging technologies/platforms (AI, 5G, medical devices, and weapons and space systems), and defending the extended federal enterprise against cyber-attacks.

Brad is passionate about advancing the nation’s capabilities in cyberspace by integrating emerging technologies with intelligence tradecraft to deliver next-generation, full-spectrum cyber solutions. He leads a multidisciplinary team of cyber operators, AI and machine learning engineers, software developers, and cloud engineers to develop and deliver these solutions across the federal and commercial markets.

Brad was named a Top 50 Cybersecurity Leader of 2023, 2021 Federal 100 Award Winner, 2020 Cyber Executive of the Year by the Northern Virginia Technology Council, and a finalist for WashingtonExec’s 2020 Cybersecurity Industry Executive of the Year.

Brad earned a B.S. from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and an M.S. from Johns Hopkins University.

Christopher D. Roberti, Senior Vice President for Cyber, Space, and National Security Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Chris leads the team responsible for national security issues at the U.S. Chamber, to include cybersecurity, space, defense, ICTS security, federal acquisition policy, and public-private sector operational cyber collaboration and intelligence sharing. In this role, he guides the Chamber’s national security advocacy on high-profile policy issues domestically and internationally.

In addition, Chris is responsible for managing the Chamber’s relationships with key U.S. Government interlocutors in the national security and law enforcement sectors. He also served as chief of staff to former U.S. Chamber CEO Thomas J. Donohue, advising on a range of domestic and international issues, program integration, and strategy. Chris works closely with members of the Chamber's executive leadership team on policy initiatives and programs of key importance to the American business community.

Before joining the Chamber, Chris served for nearly a decade in the federal government on national security matters, with much of his work overseas in diverse environments. He began his career as a corporate attorney at a global law firm, where his practice focused on international private equity, mergers & acquisitions, and securities transactions.

Chris is a member of the executive committee of the board of the National Cryptologic Foundation and has guest lectured at the University of Chicago.

He earned a J.D. degree from the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and holds B.A. degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Bradon Rogers, Chief Customer Officer, Island

Bradon Rogers is the Chief Customer Officer at Island, where he directs the technical aspects of all customer interactions, leveraging his vast experience in cybersecurity, enterprise software, and cloud technology. Bradon's career in cybersecurity spans over 25 years, during which he has played an executive leadership role for some of the largest firms in the industry.

He previously served as the Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales Engineering at Mimecast, where he managed field technical operations globally. Before joining Mimecast, Bradon was Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales Engineering and Product Marketing at Symantec. As a part of the executive leadership team at Symantec, Bradon led the global sales engineering organization, where he was also responsible for creating the go-to-market messaging and strategy of the company’s product portfolio and its many acquisitions. He joined Symantec after its acquisition of Bluecoat, where he held the same role, guiding technical excellence across the field sales teams and while leading product strategy. Bradon held similar executive and technical leadership roles at McAfee, Secure Computing, and CipherTrust.

Bradon is also a co-author of "Security Battleground: An Executive Field Manual," aimed at providing security and technology guidance to executives without formal training in these fields. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from Auburn University, where he has served on advisory boards for the College of Business and Auburn Athletics. Additionally, Bradon is a board member of The Exceptional Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to serving adults with special needs.

Kiersten Todt, President, Wondros

Kiersten Todt is the President of Wondros, a service-driven creative firm dedicated to solving complex communications and strategic challenges to drive positive, measurable social impact and change. The storytelling Wondros develops provides partners with creative content that builds bridges to diverse communities and inspires meaningful change in ways that can be measured.

She is the former Chief of Staff of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which has a nearly $3B budget and over 3,000 employees and contractors. In that role, she was responsible for the planning, allocation of resources, and development of long-range objectives in support of the department's goals.

She is also a strategic advisor to venture capital firms and serves on Boards of companies, which are focused on open-source software, memory safe language, and neurodiversity.

Prior to her role at CISA, Kiersten was the Managing Director of the Cyber Readiness Institute (CRI), a non-profit that develops free cybersecurity tools for small businesses worldwide. She co-founded CRI with the CEOs of Mastercard, Microsoft, PSP Partners, and the retired CEO of IBM.

Kiersten also served as CEO of Liberty Group Ventures, LLC, where she worked with senior leaders in industry on cyber risk management, including senior executive and Board education and briefings on threats.

Her service to the Federal Government includes serving as a professional staff member in the U.S. Senate, where she co-drafted the legislation to create the Department of Homeland Security, and as Executive Director of President Obama's Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity.

Ms. Todt’s commentary is featured frequently in national television and print media.

Kiersten graduated from Princeton University, with a degree in public policy and holds a master's degree in public policy from Harvard University.

Bryan Ware, Entrepreneur

Mr. Ware is a serial entrepreneur, having been the CEO of five VC/PE backed companies - Digital Sandbox, Haystax Technology, Next5, LookingGlass, and his most recent company, currently in stealth. All of his companies have been software/AI/cyber/intelligence focused companies serving the national security community, law enforcement and/or major brands. Mr. Ware served as Assistant Secretary of Cyber Policy at DHS and as the first Presidentially appointed Director for Cybersecurity at CISA. Mr. Ware currently serves on the boards of companies and nonprofits including the CyberGuild, an organization seeking to increase cyber awareness and diversity in the cyber workforce.