Dr. Brenda Ellis is a computer engineer at NASA. As program manager for the agency's Information Technology (IT) Security Awareness and Training Center, she has led cybersecurity training to address increasingly complex threats, resulting in a measurable risk reduction to NASA.

These successes were recognized when she received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal. The medal recognizes significant engineering contributions towards the achievement of aeronautical or space exploration goals.

This fall, Dr. Ellis will receive the Career Achievement in Government Award at the 2018 Women of Color STEM Conference.

Ellis is a contributing member of the Federal Information System Security Education Association Working Group and a partner in the Department of Homeland Security’s “Stop. Think. Connect” campaign. She has also played a significant part in the space and aeronautical communications missions at the John H. Glenn Center at Lewis Field.

After graduating from Norfolk State University with a computer science degree, Ellis worked at the National Security Agency as a computer analyst and a consultant at her alma mater before joining NASA in 1989 as a Mathematician/Programmer.

She founded the advisory board for the Information Assurance Research, Education, and Development Institute at Norfolk State University and is an associate professor at the University of Maryland University College.