Dr. Leslie Gruis

Dr. Leslie Gruis was born a patriot and raised on Capitol Hill and has dedicated her life to the intersection of mathematics, national service, privacy and civil liberties. Dr. Gruis spent three decades as a senior intelligence officer at the National Security Agency, where she developed disruptive technologies to tackle complex security challenges and helped shape internal debates around surveillance and privacy. As the first president of the NSA’s Women in Mathematics Society, Dr. Gruis championed female inclusion in STEM early in her career. Dr. Gruis also held leadership roles at U.S. Cyber Command and the National Intelligence Council before retiring to focus on privacy advocacy and STEM education. She is the author of "Privacy Past, Present, and Future," "The Privacy Pirates" and a third book.

Dr. Gruis’s texts are high-impact and use language accessible and understandable by all Americans. In addition to writing and speaking, she mentors students in math, science and history, especially middle school girls aspiring to careers in STEM. Dr. Gruis holds a PhD in applied mathematics and engineering sciences from Northwestern University and remains active with several professional societies, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Association for Computing Machinery, the Association for Women in Mathematics and the Washington Academy of Sciences. Dr. Gruis has been a member of the Cosmos Club since 2017.