Ron Ross, a computer scientist and fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is retiring from government service, an official from NIST confirmed to MeriTalk.
Ross – who has been a familiar face on the Fed-tech conference circuit for many years – has served as a fellow at NIST since 1997, focusing on issues related to cybersecurity, systems security engineering, and risk management.
Before his time at NIST, Ross served as a researcher at the Institute for Defense Analyses, and a senior technical advisor to the Department of the Army. He served 20 years in the U.S. Army and retired as a lieutenant colonel.
“It has been an extraordinary honor and privilege to serve the American people in cybersecurity positions in the United States military, the Intelligence Community, and Civilian Government,” Ross wrote in a post to LinkedIn.
According to NIST’s website, Ross led the Federal Information Security Modernization Act Implementation Project, designed to develop the security standards of the Federal government, contractors, and United States critical infrastructure.
Ross also led a joint task force between the Department of Defense, Committee on National Security Systems, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the U.S. intelligence community to develop a unified security framework for the Federal government and its contractors, according to NIST’s website.
Ross contributed dozens of publications through NIST related to risk management, privacy controls, and information security in the public and private sectors. He also won numerous private sector awards for his work throughout his time at NIST.
“My goal has always been to help protect the nation, secure our freedom, and leave this place a little better than the way I found it,” Ross wrote.
