Dr. Linton Wells II brings 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.