Biden announces additional members of National Security Council

Updated: Jan 13, 2021 / 11:50 AM CST

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden delivers remarks before announcing his choices for attorney general and other leaders of the Justice Department at The Queen theater January 07, 2021 in Wilmington, Delaware. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — President-elect Joe Biden announced additional members of the National Security Council Wednesday, including a new position to tackle cybersecurity and restoring a role in Homeland Security.

The named advisors will work with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. The NSC’s primary role is to advise on matters of national security and foreign policies, coordinating those efforts across government agencies.

Anne Neuberger speaks onstage at the WIRED25 Summit at Commonwealth Club on November 08, 2019 in San Francisco, California. (Phillip Faraone/Getty for WIRED)

Anne Neuberger has been named deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology, a new position created in the wake of the recent hacking of government agencies.

Neuberger will lead NSA’s cybersecurity mission, including emerging technology areas like quantum-resistant cryptography. Prior to this role, she led NSA’s election security effort and served as assistant deputy director of NSA’s Operations Directorate, overseeing foreign intelligence and cybersecurity operations.

Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall has been named homeland security advisor and deputy national security advisor.

Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall Courtesy: Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center

Sherwood-Randall is a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a senior fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. From 2014-2017, she served as deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy and held several roles in both the Obama and Clinton administrations.

With a 42-year background in the intelligence community, Russ Travers has been named deputy homeland security advisor.

Highlights of his career include service as both the acting director and the principal deputy director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Notable previous assignments include an appointment by President Obama to lead governmental structural responses to Wikileaks disclosures.

Acting National Counterterrorism Center Director Russell Travers testifies before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on the current threat environment, November 5, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Olivier Douliery / AFP) (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

“These dedicated public servants will be integral in keeping the American people safe and building capacity to prepare for and respond to the full spectrum of threats we face — from cyber intrusions to grid attacks, from possible future pandemics to deliberate acts of terror,” said Biden in a statement. “They will strengthen our resilience to natural disasters, and work with our allies and friends to ensure the cyber rules of the road are made by democracies.”