The National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI) at the University of Nebraska has appointed Mr. George “Dennis” Bartko to serve on its Board of Directors.
Mr. George “Dennis” Bartko is the principal and founder of Innovative Leadership Partners LLC, providing independent senior leadership consulting on cybersecurity and transformational strategy and technology. He retired from the National Security Agency after 36 years of service, including nearly 17 as a member of the Defense Intelligence Senior Executive Service. Mr. Bartko most recently served as US Cyber Command’s Director, Capabilities Development Group (CDG) and Chief Information Officer, responsible for planning, synchronizing and executing joint capability development required for the Command to accomplish its mission. Mr. Bartko established the CDG, integrating the functions and personnel of what were previously the Command’s J6, J9, and J3 Special Projects Team to form a single team focused on delivering capabilities to the warfighter. He was also responsible for executing the Command’s new acquisition authorities under NDAA 2016 Section 708.
Mr. Bartko received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Drexel University and a Master of Science in Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. While at Drexel he was a residential tutor in physics, calculus, and computer programming. Mr. Bartko is also a graduate of NSA’s Senior Leadership Development Program.
Mr. Bartko began his work at NSA as a cooperative education student during his sophomore year of college, joining the Agency full-time upon graduation where he served as a project engineer, program manager, and line manager in multiple technical organizations. As an NSA Legislative Fellow, Mr. Bartko served as legislative assistant for then Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. (MD-02). Mr. Bartko was also the leader of NSA’s FY00-01 Congressional Budget Justification Book Editorial Board and the Agency’s FY00-01 Budget Hearing Team. After performing a one-year tour at Bell Atlantic/Verizon Communications to learn business process and practices, he returned to NSA to lead the development of the Agency’s FY02-03 and FY04 Business Plans. Mr. Bartko then contributed to the Signals Intelligence Directorate’s
(SID) Transformation efforts as the leader of Operation SIGINT Task Force #1, and served as the SID’s Senior Executive Account Manager for United States Space Command and North American Air Defense Command. Mr. Bartko served as the Chief of the Office of Target Pursuit in Cryptanalysis and Exploitation Services (CES), where he also represented NSA on the National Medial Exploitation Center/National Virtual Translation Center Board of Directors. He then served as the Deputy Chief of CES as well as Turbulence Projection Coordinator, and was the leader of the Director’s Technical Architecture Governance Team. Mr. Bartko was named the first Special Assistant to the Director of the National Security Agency for Cyber and Chief of the NSA Cyber Task Force, leading NSA’s engagement in the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative and representing the Agency on the Nation Security Staff’s Cyber Interagency Policy Committee and well as multiple departmental, interagency and international forums including the National Cyber Study Group. As Lead, Director’s Charge Coordination and Integration, he coordinated and integrated the work of the team established by the Director to make recommendations on 12 focus areas critical to the future of NSA.
Mr. Bartko’s awards at NSA include two Presidential Rank Meritorious Executive Awards, NSA Exceptional & Meritorious Civilian Service Awards, a Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joint Meritorious Civilian Service Award, the Director’s Distinguished Service Medal, the Director’s Productivity Improvement Award, multiple National Intelligence Meritorious Unit Citations, and an NSA Equality Award. Mr. Bartko also served as Senior Advocate for NSA’s African American Employee Resource Group (ERG) and as Senior Advocate for Section 508 Compliance for NSA’s People with Disabilities ERG. He is also the recipient of the Cyber, Space & Intelligence Association’s Leadership Award for outstanding service to the Intelligence Community and US National Security, and is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.
