Ronald S. Ross is an American computer scientist, retired

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

lieutenant colonel, and senior cybersecurity advisor best known for leading the development of federal information security standards at the

National Institute of Standards and Technology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into Outline of p ...

(NIST). He was a principal author of widely used NIST frameworks, including SP 800-53, SP 800-37, and SP 800-160, and has received multiple national honors for his contributions to cybersecurity policy and systems security engineering.

Early life and education

Ross graduated from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

at West Point and earned a master’s and doctorate in computer science from the

Naval Postgraduate School Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a Naval command with a graduate university mission, operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California. The NPS mission is to provide "defense-focused graduate education, including clas ...

, with a focus on artificial intelligence and robotics. He also completed studies at the Defense Systems Management College.

Military service

Ross served 20 years in the

, where he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and served as a

Mechanized Infantry Mechanized infantry are infantry units equipped with Armoured personnel carrier, armored personnel carriers (APCs) or infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) for transport and combat (see also armoured corps). As defined by the United States Army, me ...

and Army Acquisition Corps officer. He completed Airborne training and held technical and leadership roles in secure computing, information assurance, and risk management, retiring with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Civilian career

After retiring from the military, Ross began his civilian service at the Institute for Defense Analyses before joining the

(NIST) as a senior computer scientist. He was named a NIST Fellow, the agency’s highest honorary recognition, for his pioneering leadership in cybersecurity and systems security engineering. Ross was a principal architect of key cybersecurity standards and frameworks used across the federal government and private sector. He served as lead author on foundational NIST publications, including: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Ross was a founding member of the Joint Task Force Transformation Initiative, a collaboration among NIST, the

Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

, the

Office of the Director of National Intelligence The director of national intelligence (DNI) is a cabinet-level United States government intelligence and security official. The position is required by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to serve as executive head o ...

, and the

Committee on National Security Systems The Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS) is a United States intergovernmental organization that sets policies for the security of the US security systems. The CIA triad ( data confidentiality, data integrity, and data availability) are ...

to unify federal cybersecurity frameworks. He also directed the National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP), a joint NIST and

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...

program focused on systems evaluation. Ross received the

Defense Superior Service Medal The Defense Superior Service Medal (DSSM) is a military decoration of the United States Department of Defense, which is presented to United States Armed Forces service members who perform superior meritorious service in a position of significant ...

''(awarded in a civilian capacity)'' for his contributions to national cybersecurity. In 2025, according to his LinkedIn profile, Ross was appointed a Fellow at Dartmouth College’s Institute for Security, Technology, and Society (ISTS) in 2025, where he indicates he contributes to research and curriculum development in cybersecurity and systems engineering.

Congressional testimony and media

Ross has testified before Congress on several occasions regarding cybersecurity risk frameworks, supply chain security, and federal preparedness following major breaches, including the SolarWinds incident. He has also appeared in national media discussing cybersecurity threats and federal response strategies. His insights have been featured in:

Selected publications

* Ross, Ron, et al. ''Security and Privacy Controls for Information Systems and Organizations''. NIST Special Publication 800-53 Revision 5, September 2020
DOI: 10.6028/NIST.SP.800-53r5
* Ross, Ron ''Planning Minimum-Energy Paths in an Off-Road Environment with Anisotropic Traversal Costs and Motion Constraints''. Ph.D. dissertation, Naval Postgraduate School, June 1989
PDF (DTIC)
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Presentations

Lectures and academic engagements

Dr. Ron Ross has delivered invited lectures and participated in academic events at numerous universities and colleges across the United States. His speaking engagements have included prestigious institutions such as: *

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

In these settings, Dr. Ross has shared insights on topics including

cybersecurity Computer security (also cybersecurity, digital security, or information technology (IT) security) is a subdiscipline within the field of information security. It consists of the protection of computer software, systems and networks from thr ...

risk management, federal information security policy,

systems engineering Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their Enterprise life cycle, life cycles. At its core, systems engineering uti ...

, and emerging threats in

national defense National security, or national defence (national defense in American English), is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived ...

and

critical infrastructure protection In the U.S., critical infrastructure protection (CIP) is a concept that relates to the preparedness and response to serious incidents that involve the critical infrastructure of a region or the nation. The American Presidential directive PDD-63 o ...

. His lectures frequently draw upon his leadership at the

(NIST), where he helped develop the Risk Management Framework (RMF) and the

NIST Cybersecurity Framework The NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) is a set of voluntary guidelines designed to help organizations assess and improve their ability to prevent, detect, and respond to cybersecurity risks. Developed by the U.S. National Institute of Standards ...

Civilian awards and honors

* National Cyber Security Hall of Fame, Class of 2015 * Federal 100 Award (multiple years) *

Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business ...

Gold Medal for Distinguished Achievement *

Scientific Achievement Award *

Presidential Rank Award The Presidential Rank Awards program is an individual award program granted by the United States government to career Senior Executive Service (SES) members and Senior Career Employees within the OPM-allocated Senior-Level (SL) or Scientific-Profe ...

for public service *

Information Systems Security Association Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) is a not-for-profit, international professional organization of information security professionals and practitioners. It was founded in 1984 after work on its establishment started in 1982. ISSA prom ...

Hall of Fame Inductee and Distinguished Service Award recipient *

(ISC)² International Information System Security Certification Consortium, or ISC2, is a non-profit organization which specializes in training and certifications for cybersecurity Computer security (also cybersecurity, digital security, or info ...

Lynn F. McNulty Tribute Award (2013, inaugural recipient) * 2021 Retired Gen. Michael V. Hayden Lifetime Leadership Award * 1105 Media Gov30 Award *

ISACA ISACA is an international professional association focused on IT (information technology) governance. On its IRS filings, it is known as the Information Systems Audit and Control Association, although ISACA now goes by its acronym only.

Joseph J. Wasserman Award * 2015 Homeland Security and Law Enforcement Medal * 2019 Pioneer Award, Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology (ICIT), for contributions to cybersecurity and public sector innovation

Service and recognition

Lt. Col., U.S. Army (Ret.)

Awards and decorations

Badges

Parachutist Badge

Retirement and legacy

Ross formally retired from full-time government service in 2025. During his tenure, he contributed to the development of federal cybersecurity frameworks, including the Risk Management Framework (RMF), and was a principal author of NIST Special Publications such as SP 800-37, SP 800-53, and SP 800-160. These publications are widely used by U.S. federal agencies and other organizations for information security management. After retiring, Ross established RONROSSECURE, LLC, a private consulting firm focused on cybersecurity policy, secure systems development, and risk management.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Ronald S. Living people American computer scientists United States Army officers Naval Postgraduate School alumni United States Military Academy alumni United States Army personnel American technology writers