Veteran cyber hand to be the U.S. intelligence community’s next CIO

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines has selected a cyber policy expert to serve as the clandestine community’s next chief information officer.

Dr. Adele Merritt, most recently a program manager at Dreamport — a non-profit tech hub created by U.S. Cyber Command in 2018 to foster innovation and bolster ties between the military, academia and the private sector — will take over the CIO post, two sources told The Record. 

Michael Waschull, the intelligence community’s deputy CIO who has served as acting CIO since January 2021, will return to the No. 2 slot. Waschull assumed the acting spot when the previous CIO, Matthew Kozma, stepped down.

Merritt’s appointment, which has not been publicly announced but is expected to be made soon, will fill a critical personnel gap on the Biden administration’s cyber team.

As CIO, Merritt will report directly to Haines. She will be responsible for management of the information technology enterprise across the community’s 18 elements at a time when a chorus of senior officials and agencies have warned both public and private sector organizations to brace for possible Russian cyberattacks that serve as a precursor to a full-scale military invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

Last week Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology, said at a White House briefing that Russia was behind the hacks of Ukrainian banks and military websites.

Prior to joining Dreamport, Merritt served as the Energy Department's principal deputy CIO for cyber, where she oversaw the agency’s IT resources and related policies. In addition, she was a director and acting senior director on the National Security Council Staff at the White House.

Merritt has held positions within the intelligence community, including at the National Security Agency.

She earned her doctorate and Master of Science degrees in mathematics from the University of Rhode Island. She was also a National Security Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.

In a statement, an ODNI spokesperson said TKTK