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Profile

Serena Chan, Ph.D., is a member of the scientific and professional cadre of senior executives and the senior technical advisor in the Defense Information Systems Agency’s Operations and Infrastructure Center. In this position, she provides technical leadership and strategic direction to raise the bar for command and control of DISA’s operational environment. Her focus is on refining integrated processes, operationalizing innovative capabilities, and transforming data into meaningful information for improved information sharing and enhanced decision-making.

Previously, Chan served as the director of DISA’s Cyber Development Directorate, overseeing a diverse portfolio of capabilities and services including public key infrastructure; identity, credential, and access management; zero trust; software defined environment; endpoint security; Joint Regional Security Stacks; boundary security; cross domain solutions; big data platform; cyber situational awareness and data sharing; data analytics; and NetOps solutions.

Prior to joining DISA, Chan worked as a research staff member with the Institute for Defense Analyses,
where she provided objective analyses and strategic advice on national security issues to senior leaders
in the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and the Office of the Program Manager
of the Information Sharing Environment under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. She
managed a portfolio that included survivable, resilient, enduring, effective and interoperable
communications for national security, emergency management, and continuity of operations, as well as
cybersecurity developmental test and evaluation.

Chan has led research teams that have published numerous papers for the Institute for Defense
Analyses, impacting policy for the whole of government. Her most recent works were in supply chain risk
management, mission assurance, and public safety communications. Chan's research efforts helped
drive policy and ensured the operational effectiveness and resilience of critical national systems and
infrastructures.

Chan received her bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering with a minor in economics, a
master’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science, and a doctorate in engineering systems
from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is a Certified
Information Systems Security Professional and a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers. She is a member of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics
Association, Asian American Government Executives Network, and Sigma Xi, a national scientific
research honor society.

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Sessions

• Theater Session: Senior Cyber Leaders Discuss Risk Management Challenges and Opportunities
• TechNet Cyber Webinar Series: Perfecting Operations: The Future of Operations at DISA

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