Daniel Ragsdale, Ph.D., Deputy Assistant National Cyber Director in the Office of the National Cyber Director at The White House, presented a lecture in Pangborn Hall on Monday, September 9th, 2024. The lecture was held in the Scullen Room, with students, faculty, and staff in attendance.
Ragsdale is a leader in cybersecurity and cyber modernization research and engineering. His engaging lecture covered leadership and professionalism, where he emphasized how to be a virtuous leader. He said leaders should always consider the interest of those they lead, especially when making decisions. Moreover, leaders must continually try to help those they lead and contribute to their professional development and growth as individuals. Ragsdale also reminded the audience that those who lead us at points in our lives, have a tremendous impact on how we lead others and we should never lose sight of this reality when we find ourselves in positions of leadership.
Ragsdale’s leadership experience comes from a successful career in the management of technology development, experimentation, resource allocation, and developmental testing. Prior to his position at The White House, Ragsdale was Principal Director for Cyber in the Office of the Director of Defense Research and Engineering (Research & Technology). In that role, he was responsible for coordinating cyber modernization efforts across the Department of Defense, as well as making recommendations concerning the allocation of resources and alignment of efforts across the Department.
Before his service in government, he was the founding director of the Texas A&M Cybersecurity Center and a Professor of Practice in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. In this role, he was responsible for leading, coordinating, and facilitating cybersecurity research and educational activities across the university. Ragsdale also previously served as a Program Manager in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). In this role, he successfully led a $175 million research and development portfolio of classified and unclassified cybersecurity and educational programs.
Ragsdale is a 1981 graduate of the United States Military Academy, and later earned an M.S. in Computer Science from the Naval Postgraduate School and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Texas A&M University. He served 30 years in the U.S. Army in a wide array of operational, educational, and research and development roles, retiring at the rank of Colonel. He served nearly 15 years at the United States Military Academy, West Point, in a variety of teaching and research roles, culminating in service as the Vice Dean for Education, the Principal Deputy to West Point’s Chief Academic Officer.