Dr. Ron Ross
Dr. Ron Ross
Fellow
NIST
Dr. Ron Ross is a senior computer scientist and Fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). His current areas of specialization include information security, testing and evaluation, and risk management. Dr. Ross leads the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) Implementation Project, which includes the development of security standards and guidelines for the federal government, contractors, and the United States critical information infrastructure. His recent publications include Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) Publication 199 (security categorization standard), FIPS Publication 200 (security requirements standard), NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-53 (security controls guideline), NIST SP 800-53A (security assessment guideline), NIST SP 800-37 (security authorization guideline), and NIST SP 800-39 (enterprise risk management guideline). Dr. Ross is the principal architect of the Risk Management Framework and multi-tiered approach that provides a disciplined and structured methodology for integrating the suite of FISMA-related security standards and guidelines into a comprehensive enterprise-wide information security program. Dr. Ross also leads the Joint Task Force Transformation Initiative Working Group, a joint partnership with NIST, the Department of Defense, the Intelligence Community, and the Committee on National Security Systems to develop a unified information security framework for the federal government.
In addition to his responsibilities at NIST, Dr. Ross supports the U.S. State Department in the international outreach program for information security and critical infrastructure protection. Dr. Ross previously served as the Director of the National Information Assurance Partnership, a joint activity of NIST and the National Security Agency. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Dr. Ross served in a variety of leadership and technical positions during his twenty-year career in the United States Army. While assigned to the National Security Agency, he received the Scientific Achievement Award for his work on an inter-agency national security project and was awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal upon his departure from the agency. Dr. Ross is a three-time recipient of the Federal 100 award for his leadership and technical contributions to critical information security projects affecting the federal government and is a recipient of the Department of Commerce Gold and Silver Medal Awards. Dr. Ross has been inducted into the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) Hall of Fame and elected to the grade of ISSA Distinguished Fellow. Dr. Ross has also received several private sector awards and recognition for cyber security including the Vanguard Chairman’s Award, the Symantec Cyber 7 Award, and InformationWeek’s Government CIO 50. During his twenty-year military career, Dr. Ross served as a White House aide and as a senior technical advisor to the Department of the Army. Dr. Ross is a graduate of the Defense Systems Management College and holds both Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from the United States Naval Postgraduate School.