Group: CARE Senior Fellows

Dr. Linton Wells II has more than twenty years of leadership experience at the interface of policy and technology. Recent research has focused on international cyber resilience and critical infrastructure protection, building resilience in the space domain, countering disinformation in complex information environments, and supply chain risk management, as well as the policy implications of accelerating, converging technological change in areas like biotechnology, robotics, augmented intelligence, advanced manufacturing, information technology, nanotechnology and energy. This includes the national security implications of the replacement of labor by automation and artificial intelligence, and the ability to reduce pressures for migration and marginalization by building resilience at community levels.

While in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, he served as acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration (ASD NII) and Department of Defense (DoD) Chief Information Officer (CIO) in which roles he oversaw the Defense Department’s $30 billion budget for information technology and related areas. Other senior positions have overseen Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence (C3I), as well as the National Industrial Security Program (NISP). From 2010 to 2014 he led the Center for Technology and National Security Policy, a research center at National Defense University (NDU).  In 2014 he completed 51 consecutive years with DoD.  He is the President and CEO of Global Resilience Strategies—”Be prepared to bounce forward better,” Visiting Distinguished Research Fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) at NDU, Chairman of the Advisory Group to the C4I & Cyber Center at George Mason University (GMU), Executive Advisor to GMU’s Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities, and a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).

In twenty-six years of naval service, Dr. Wells served in a variety of surface ships, including command of a destroyer squadron and guided missile destroyer. He also acquired a wide range of experience in operations analysis; Pacific, Indian Ocean and Middle East affairs; and C3I.  Born in Luanda, Angola, he was graduated from the United States Naval Academy and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and oceanography. He attended graduate school at the Johns Hopkins University, receiving a Master of Science in Engineering (M.S.E.) degree in mathematical sciences and a PhD in international relations. He is also a graduate of the Japanese National Institute for Defense Studies in Tokyo.  He served on the National Advisory Council of the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins.

Dr. Wells has written widely on security studies in English and Japanese journals. He also co-edited a series of books on leader development and international security transformation. He received the Woodrow Wilson Award for Distinguished Government Service from the Johns Hopkins University and has thrice been awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service.

Thomas P. Vartanian is the Executive Director of the Financial Technology & Cybersecurity Center.  He previously served at several federal banking agencies, including as General Counsel of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and the FSLIC in the S&L crisis, and before that as Special Assistant to the Chief Counsel of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Between 1983 and 2018, he chaired the financial institution’s practices at two international law firms, Dechert LLP and Fried Frank LLP.  He has represented parties in a majority of the 50 largest financial institution failures in American history, and advised most of the presidential administrations in that period.

He is a frequent lecturer and media commentator on the financial services industry, having appeared on Bloomberg TV, CNN, Fox News, Newsmax, PBS and various local and national radio shows. His latest book, 200 Years of American Financial Panics: Crashes, Recessions, Depressions, and the Technology That Will Change It All (Prometheus Books) chronicles the country’s tumultuous financial history and the impact that technology will have on its future. His next book, The Unhackable Internet: How Rebuilding Cyberspace Can Create Real Security And Prevent Financial Collapse (Prometheus Books) will be available February 2023.

As a musician, he appeared in the first production in the United States in 1970 of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  His classic rock band, The Johnny Esquire Band, has helped raise approximately $5,000,000 for charities in the Washington D.C. area over the last twenty-five years.  Mr. Vartanian also founded and plays for the Washington All Stars, a senior baseball team that has raised more than $500,000 for Special Olympics.  For more, see www.thomasvartanian.com.

Frank is the co-founder of aiLeaders, a boutique advisory firm that exists to help develop the missing component America needs to win the AI era, i.e., enough qualified analytics and AI leaders.

He is the co-author of the upcoming book: Winning the National Security AI Competition – A Practical Guide for Leaders.

Frank has 20 years of executive leadership experience in all three major sectors: public, private, and non-profit. During 22 years of public service, Frank helped lead several technology innovations including: evaluating and transitioning to production the nation’s first long endurance unmanned aerial system; delivering intelligence to the tactical edge using narrow and wide-brand technologies; agile prototyping of big data analytics; and designing the first wargame to quantify the value of information to military operations.

The Director of Central Intelligence awarded Frank the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement in recognition of these accomplishments. Frank was also the National Reconnaissance Office’s (NRO) Legislative Director, and a member of CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service, where he received the NRO’s Medals of Distinguished and Superior Service.

Leaving the public sector in 2002, Frank co-founded Edge Consulting, a firm that achieved national recognition for pioneering work in the use of analytics to quantify the value of intelligence to special and conventional military operations. Frank helped lead Edge from a start-up to significant year-over-year growth, culminating in an acquisition by the National Interest Security Corporation (NISC).

Frank has extensive teaching experience in government, industry, and academe. George Mason University students in two different tech programs have recognized Frank with the outstanding faculty award. He is a coach with the Center for Creative Leadership. Frank holds a BA in Business Management, MS in Technology Management, and has completed postgraduate course work in human and organizational learning.

Chief Technologist – Booz Allen Hamilton – Health Acct Group (federal)

Mr. Sullivan is an accomplished healthcare and life sciences information technology (HIT) management and advisory executive with extensive U.S. and international experience.  He specializes in Health Information Exchange (HIE), Electronic Health Records (EHR) and interoperability, laboratory information systems and medical device integration, Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS), public health informatics, and enterprise health systems architecture, operations, and policy.

Currently, Jim is a Chief Technologist with Booz Allen Hamilton’s Health Account Group federal practice. He has held senior and executive roles throughout his healthcare IT career with companies that include TCS (TATA Consultancy Services), KPMG, Cognizant, Capgemini, Quest Diagnostics, and others. His roles have included market strategy, project and engagement leadership, research & development, business development, and strategic partnering.

His strengths are in organizational strategy and systems integration management in HIT across payor, provider, and life sciences – in both the commercial and public sectors. He maintains extensive industry relationships and a strong network of colleagues.

Mr. Sullivan is frequently called on as a speaker at industry events. And, in addition to serving as a Senior Fellow with GMU CARE, he also serves on steering committees and advisory boards for organizations that include:  Steering Committee (representing Public Health), for KeyHIE – Keystone Health Information Exchange (part of Geisinger Health System);  Board of Advisors, with The Canadian Technology Accelerator (CTA) and eHealth Innovation Program for the Office of the Trade Commissioner for HIT, Consulate General of Canada;  President Elect, Pennsylvania HIMSS – Keystone Chapter (Health Information Management Systems Society).

Jim is a very proud father and grandfather, and resides in rural south-central Pennsylvania, just outside of Hershey, with his wife Jeanine.  In addition to enjoying his family – Jim is also a musician, a great Pennsylvania sports fan (Penn State, Hershey Bears Hockey, Phillies, Eagles), and is an avid traveler and amateur photographer.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimsullivanhitsrmngtexec/

Gary Rinkerman earned an undergraduate degree from Rutgers University where he graduated summa cum laude with a custom degree that integrated science and liberal arts.  He then attended Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC, where he wrote an award-winning  paper on US equivalents to European “moral rights” and also worked for an intellectual property (IP) law firm, where he performed litigation tasks, transaction work, and  clearance opinion work.  Upon graduation he took a position in the Petrochemical and Engineering Division of the General Law Department in E.I. du Pont de Nemoures & Co., Inc. in Wilmington, Delaware.  He moved back to Washington, DC in the early 1980s and co-founded Computer Law Reporter, one of the earliest publications devoted exclusively to legal issues and developments concerning computer technology.  Gary then became a Senior Investigative Attorney at the US International Trade Commission where he was the first chair litigator for the US Government in investigations under 19 USC §1337 concerning trade secrets, patents, copyrights, trademarks, and unfair competition.   Among his cases were the series of semiconductor chip technology disputes that are now referred to as “The Chip Wars,” as well as a seminal case that involved copyright protection for object code.

Gary’s move to law firm practice gave rise to his dual role as intellectual property (IP) partner and lecturer.  He has worked with Fortune Ten companies in IP litigation and internal IP management programs as well as in the creation and administration of IP generation and clearance systems, IP-related agreements, and IP training programs. His work has ranged from digital technologies to consumer products and apparel to content creation and licensing in the advertising and entertainment industries.  For decades, Gary has been an in-demand IP lecturer, and he has taught at institutions such as Queen Mary University in London (where he is an Honorary Professor), ETH Zurich, EIPIN, New York University, and George Mason University.  He has written original course materials and has published articles on, e.g., the development of US rights of publicity laws and disparate fair use principles and developments in the areas of visual arts and music.  He has testified before the US Copyright Office on licensing practices.  Among Gary’s latest projects are updating and creating new IP course materials and working on artificial intelligence (AI) projects, with a goal of identifying and protecting points of authorship and inventorship in AI-assisted creations.  He is currently working  on an article on IP and AI-assisted creations in language, music, and the visual arts, including “fine art” and cinema.

Gary is a member of the Boards of the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley and the Ormond Beach Performing Arts Center in Florida.

Rasch’s career spans more than 25 years of corporate and government cybersecurity, computer privacy, regulatory compliance, computer forensics and incident response. He is trained as a lawyer and was the Chief Security Evangelist for Verizon Enterprise Solutions (VES).  He is recognized author of numerous security- and privacy-related articles. Prior to joining Verizon, he taught courses in cybersecurity, law, policy and technology at various colleges and Universities including the University of Maryland, George Mason University, Georgetown University, and the American University School of law and was active with the American Bar Association’s Privacy and Cybersecurity Committees and the Computers, Freedom and Privacy Conference.   Rasch had worked as cyberlaw editor for SecurityCurrent.com, as Chief Privacy Officer for SAIC, and as Director or Managing Director at various information security consulting companies, including CSC, FTI Consulting, Solutionary, Predictive Systems, and Global Integrity Corp.

Earlier in his career, Rasch was with the U.S. Department of Justice where he led the department’s efforts to investigate and prosecute cyber and high-technology crime, starting the computer crime unit within the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, efforts which eventually led to the creation of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the Criminal Division.  He was responsible for various high-profile computer crime prosecutions, including Kevin Mitnick, Kevin Poulsen and Robert Tappan Morris. Mark is a frequent commentator in the media on issues related to information security, appearing on BBC, CBC, Fox News, CNN, NBC News, ABC News, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and many other outlets.

Christine Pommerening is a Managing Partner at novaturient LLC, where she leads the risk management practice, including developing client contacts, preparing briefs and reports, and holding workshops, using NIST-CSF and other frameworks.

Dr. Pommerening has held appointments at George Mason University since 2004. As an instructor, she develops and teaches undergraduate, graduate and executive courses in public policy. She managed the School of Policy’s Executive Education Program from 2014-2016, including conceptualizing and conducting programs for various public, private, and international clients. She served as the Director of the School of Policy’s Masters of Public Policy Program with over 400 students in 2013-14.

Past research projects include directing the development of a training program on enterprise-wide risk management for electric utilities under a cooperative agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency; coordinating a data modeling project on the economic and workforce effects of military spending for the Virginia Governor’s Office and the Department of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment; and managing a comprehensive study on historical, legal, economic, and societal aspects of the postal service, conducted on behalf of the Postal Regulatory Commission, which was submitted to Congress in December 2008.

From 2004 until 2008, she was a Senior Research Associate at the Center for Infrastructure Protection and Homeland Security at the George Mason University School of Law, focusing on public and private sector approaches to infrastructure security, cybersecurity, and risk management.

Prior to that, she held appointments at Technische Universität Kaiserslautern and Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany.

Christine Pommerening has a Ph.D. in Public Policy from George Mason University, and an M.A. in Industrial and Organizational Sociology from Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany.

Jeffrey Matsuura’s practice focuses on domestic and international legal and regulatory issues associated with the development, distribution, and use of technology.  His work has involved a range of technologies, with special emphasis on communications and computing, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, aerospace, robotics, health and medical, and blockchain.  He is a member of the Virginia Bar and the District of Columbia Bar, and earned degrees from Duke University, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Virginia School of Law.   Mr. Matsuura also provides strategic and operational advice regarding management of intellectual property rights.  He assists clients to establish, implement, and maintain business strategies which maximize the commercial value and operational effectiveness of their intellectual property.   Mr. Matsuura is a former Fulbright Fellow who has written and taught extensively on subjects associated with technology law and intellectual property rights.  He previously served as assistant professor and Director of the Program in Law and Technology at the University of Dayton School of Law.  He has also served on the visiting and adjunct faculties of numerous academic institutions in the United States and in other countries, including Ukraine, New Zealand, and China.  Mr. Matsuura is the author or co-author of several published books on law and technology topics, including: Law of the Internet (written with George Delta, published by Wolters Kluwer , Global Information Technology Law (written with Craig Blakeley , Thomson Reuters West), Digital Currency: An International Legal and Regulatory Compliance Guide (Bentham Science Publisher, A Manager’s Guide to the Law and Economics of Data Networks (Artech House), Security, Rights, and Liabilities in E-commerce (Artech House), Managing Intellectual Assets in the Digital Age (Artech House), Nanotechnology Regulation and Policy Worldwide (Artech House), and Jefferson vs. the Patent Trolls: A Populist Vision of Intellectual Property Rights (University of Virginia Press).

CEO of Neuvik and author of the book “Understand, Manage, and Measure Cyber Risk”. Past adventures include growing a cyber research and development company, serving as Chief of Staff and Associate Director of Cyber for the U.S. Department of Defense, and sparking a fondness for technology problem-solving at IBM.

Robert Ledig is Managing Director of the Financial Technology & Cybersecurity Center – www.fintsc.org. He is an Adjunct Professor of Law at George Mason University’s Scalia Law School teaching Privacy & Information Security Law. He is a partner at Vartanian & Ledig PLLC, a Washington, D.C. financial services law firm.

He has extensive experience in banking and financial services regulation and related financial technology, privacy and information security, corporate, securities, administrative law and litigation matters. He has written and spoken widely on financial services issues.

He is an editor and author of a numbers of books, including: The Volcker Rule: Commentary and Analysis (2014), Dechert LLP’s Analysis of Financial Regulatory Reform [Dodd-Frank Act] for the American Bankers Association (2010), 21st Century Money, Banking & Commerce (1998), Management of Risks Created by Internet-Initiated Value Transfers (1995), The Fair Lending Guide (1995) and Contracting with the FDIC and RTC (1991). He was Chair of the Electronic Financial Services Subcommittee of the Cyberspace Committee of the American Bar Association.

He was Director of the Program on Financial Regulation & Technology and a Professor of Law at Scalia Law School from 2018 to 2021. He taught classes on FinTech, Regulation of Financial Institutions, Banking Law, and Privacy & Information Security Law. Prior to that he was an Adjunct Professor of Law at the School for more than 20 years.

He practiced law and was a Partner in the financial services groups at Dechert LLP and Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP from 1984 to 2018. Prior to that, he was an attorney at the Federal Home Loan Bank Board.