Primary Job Title President & Chairman of the Board Primary Organization Docent Institute
Location Bettendorf, Iowa, United States Regions Midwestern US Gender Male Also Known As John D. Johnson
Website johndjohnson.com Facebook View on Facebook LinkedIn View on LinkedIn X (Twitter) View on X
Dr. Johnson has held leadership roles in cybersecurity in government, consulting, and industry since 1986. He is Founder/CEO of Aligned Security, providing cybersecurity advisory services. He is also Founder/President of Docent Institute, which focuses on the intersection of advancing technologies with security, privacy, ethics, and
public policy. Docent introduces 1500 K-12 students to cybersecurity with its STEM and career programs.
John started his research in applied physics as an undergraduate at Michigan Technological University and continued as a research assistant at the MSU National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL), and then at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) as a graduate student and then a postdoctoral fellow. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from The University of Texas at Austin in 1993. In 1996, John started his career in cybersecurity as Network and Security Manager for the Theoretical Division at LANL. He subsequently served in executive security roles for startups and large organizations such as John Deere, Deloitte, and Campbell Soup Company. As an adjunct professor, he taught astronomy and developed and taught numerous graduate cybersecurity courses from 2003-2019.
John has served on the ISSA Education Foundation Board as Director of Fundraising since 2021. He served on the InfraGard Springfield board and is Membership Director for the Quad Cities ISC2 Chapter. Since 2003, he has been an active IEEE volunteer. He is currently Vice Chair of the Iowa-Illinois Section, Iowa-Illinois Computer Society Chapter Chair and Co-Founder, and has served in many roles over 20 years on the Region 4 ExCom, as well as leadership roles in IEEE including: MGA Awards and Recognition Chair, IEEE-USA Awards and Recognition Chair, IEEE-USA VP of Communications, Computer Society Board of Governors, IEEE MOVE Communications Chair, Sensors Council AdCom, Standards Association Blockchain for Agriculture Working Group Chair, Computer Society Cybersecurity STC Chair, Computer Society Audit Committee Chair, and Computer Society Merwin Award Committee Chair. During his three years on the Computer Society BoG, he helped align CS Chapters as part of the organizing committee for the first Global CS Chapters Summit, and he helped develop the strategy to return Computer Society to profitability.
John founded the Quad Cities Cybersecurity Alliance and has been a founding board member for cyber education nonprofits, corporate advisory boards, SC Magazine Editorial Board, and he is a frequent speaker and has served on organizing committees for Black Hat, RSA Conference, and CornCon, which he founded in 2015. He was a key force behind the kids’ program at DEF CON, which he helped run from 2010-2019.
John is a Senior Member in both IEEE and ISSA. John received the 2008 Senior Scientist of the Year Award, and the 2010 IEEE Region 4 Jack Sherman Outstanding Member Award and has been inducted into IEEE HKN and Computer Society Golden Core. John is a Charter Member of FAIR Institute, a Distinguished Fellow of Ponemon Institute, and a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow.
