President Donald Trump has nominated Katherine Sutton, a cyber policy and technology expert, to serve as assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy.

Congress received Sutton’s nomination for the Department of Defense position on Monday and referred it to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

If confirmed, Sutton would oversee DOD’s policy for cyber operations and concurrently serve as principal cyber adviser to the secretary of defense.

Katherine Sutton’s Career Background

Sutton has been serving as chief technology adviser to the commander and director of Pentagon operations at U.S. Cyber Command since 2023. In this capacity, she advises the commander on the development of engineering policies and strategies to execute the command’s authorities for acquisition, workforce management, service-like functions and enhanced budget control.

She has over two decades of experience in cyber policy, technology development and legislative oversight.

Before joining USCYBERCOM, the national security official served as a professional staff member on the Senate and House Armed Services Committees.

Sutton spent 15 years at Sandia National Laboratories, where she served as a research and development cybersecurity manager, Congressional Fellow to HASC’s Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee and nuclear nonproliferation R&D technical adviser at the National Nuclear Security Administration.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduate holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University.

James Schmidt, a seasoned educator, has been selected as the new president of James Madison University.

The university said Wednesday Schmidt was appointed by the JMU Board of Visitors as the seventh president in the school’s history. He will start his tenure on July 1.

Who Is James Schmidt?

Schmidt has been part of academia for over three decades. He is the current chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, a role he has held for nearly 12 years. The higher education administrator played a crucial role in the university’s achievement of a top-10 ranking in the U.S. News & World Report’s list of best regional public universities in the midwest. In 2016, UW-Eau Claire was selected as the top master’s university for excellence in undergraduate research by the Council for Undergraduate Research. It is also the only master’s university in Wisconsin to be included in the nation’s top 20 institutions for student involvement in study abroad programs. Furthermore, the school has distinguished itself by producing two Rhodes scholars since 2005 and the most Fullbright students among all master’s level universities in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Before joining UW-Eau Claire, Schmidt was with Winona State University for over 15 years. He served as vice president for university advancement at the university. He spent over 11 years at the Riverland Community College where he was the VP for student affairs. The academic leader serves as chair of the board of directors at WNB Financial N.A.

“I take great pride in this institution and will do everything I can to support the board and our new president during this transition,” said Charlie King, interim president of JMU.

The Senate on Tuesday voted 74-25 to confirm Michael Kratsios, a two-time Wash100 Award winner, as director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, or OSTP.

Kratsios’ confirmation as head of OSTP marks his return to the White House. He served as the U.S. chief technology officer during President Donald Trump’s first term.

He was officially nominated for the OSTP director role in January. 

Michael Kratsios’ Career Background

Kratsios most recently served as managing director at Scale AI.

Under his leadership as U.S. CTO, the White House launched national initiatives for artificial intelligence, 5G, quantum computing, commercial drones, autonomous vehicles, STEM education and advanced manufacturing.

He previously served as acting under secretary of defense for research and engineering. In this capacity, he was responsible for research, development and prototyping efforts across the Department of Defense.

Kratsios spent seven years at Thiel Capital, where he held leadership positions, including principal, chief financial officer and chief compliance officer.

Earlier in his career, the Princeton University graduate served as an analyst at Barclays Investment Bank.

Greg Autry has been nominated by President Donald Trump for chief financial officer at NASA on March 24.

The agency said Tuesday NASA acting administrator Janet Petro issued a statement announcing the nomination. According to Petro, if confirmed, Autry will be responsible for handling over $25 billion in funds for Moon and Mars missions and other projects.

“With his previous experience as the White House liaison during President Trump’s first administration, as well as his extensive experience in space policy, I look forward to welcoming Greg as our next CFO,” said Petro. “If confirmed, we will work together with the current Trump Administration to ensure NASA’s success in maximizing efficiencies, refining our processes and remaining effective stewards of every tax dollar invested in our agency,” she added.

Who Is Greg Autry?

Autry is currently an associate provost for space commercialization and strategy at the University of Central Florida. As the university’s Space Czar, he is tasked with developing strategies and maintaining partnerships with industry and government space agencies. He is also a visiting professor at Imperial College London and a member of the board at Elevated Materials.

He spent nearly three years as the business case subcommittee chair responsible for assessing business cases in proposals for the agency’s In Space Production Applications. Autry was also chair of the safety working group advising the Office of Commercial Space Transportation of the Federal Aviation Administration and was part of the NASA Agency Review Landing Team.

His career in the academe includes stints with the Thunderbird School of Global Management, University of Oxford, International Space University, University of California’s Paul Merage School of Business and Chapman University.

Autry was previously nominated for CFO at NASA in 2020 but was unconfirmed.