Alenka Brown, Ph.D.
Senior Research Fellow

Dr. Alenka Brown is a (IPA) Senior Research Fellow for the National Defense University-Center for Technology and National Security Policy (NDU-CTNSP). In her current role, she reports to the NDU-CTNSP Chair for Force Transformation as Lead for Human Interoperability Enterprise, Social Networking Communications, and Information Propagation and Stability Operations. She supports the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Networks & Information Integration/ Department of Defense Chief Information Officer, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency-Innovation and Systems Engineering Directorate, and Intelligence Community as Special Advisor for Human Interactions involving Human Interoperability and Building Partnerships and Capacities, Threat Assimilation, and Human System Integration and Asymmetric Psycho-Metrics. She holds the position of Director of Human System Development in the National Security Directorate at the Department of Energy-Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Before assuming her current position, Dr. Brown was an IPA-Sr. Science/Special Advisor, Federal Advisor, or a FFRDC Advisor/Consultant for such offices, agencies, centers, or boards as the Joint Staff-J9; the Special Assistant for Concepts and Plans & Strategic and Tactical Systems under the Undersecretary for Defense for Advanced Technology and Logistics; the Office of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflicts; the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Networks & Information Integration; the Defense Threat Reduction Agency-Advanced Strategic and Concept Office; the USSTRATCOM Global Innovative Strategic Center; the National Security Council Office for Strategic Communications; the DIA-Underground Facility Analysis Center, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Langley-Human Factors Division; the Intelligence Community for Asymmetric Threats; the Defense Science Board, and the Department of Energy’s Plutonium Focus Area Task Force.

Dr. Brown’s field of knowledge and publication topics range from human interoperability dynamics for sharing of information and behaviors involving: human system integration, maritime domain awareness, building partnership capacities, and humanitarian and disaster efforts to traditional human factors; virtual environments; instrumentation, command and controls; neuro-linguistics and human programming; adaptive learning; adaptive human networks; cognitive-behavior and cross cultural analysis; psycho-metric forensics; asymmetric threats and irregular warfare; cognitive-behavior and cyber threats; information operation and underground facilities; and critical infrastructure vulnerabilities and human network attack.

She is the author of the book Say it Right, and co-author of chapters of the books, The Future of Foreign Language Education in the United States: The Entangled Future of Foreign Language Learning (Chapter 2), and the IEEE for High Assurance Systems: Human Interoperability and High Assurance Systems (Chapter 5).

Dr. Brown earned a Ph.D. in Human Factors Engineering (emphasis in Cognitive Engineering); M.S. in Electrical Engineering, and a B.S. in Computer Science. She is a Certified Human Factors Professional and is considered one of the foremost experts in cross-cultural communications.