Huban Gowadia selected as Global Security director

Huban Gowadia, a longtime manager in national security programs for multiple government agencies, has been selected as the principal associate director of Global Security at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Lab Director Bill Goldstein made the announcement on Thursday.

Gowadia was chosen for this key Laboratory senior leadership position following a broad national search. As the Global Security principal associate director, she will be responsible for programs that support international and domestic security — in particular, overseeing LLNL responsibilities in intelligence analysis, energy security, nonproliferation, nuclear counterterrorism and addressing chemical, biological and explosive threats.

Working with the Department of Energy and other federal agencies such as the departments of Defense and Homeland Security and the intelligence community, academia and the commercial sector, “Gowadia will oversee Global Security's continuing contributions to the nation by assuring high-quality program execution and the development of innovative solutions for emerging threats,” Goldstein said.

“I look forward to working closely with Huban as a member of the senior management team.”

Gowadia joined the Lab in May 2018 as the deputy principal associate director for Programs for the National Ignition Facility and Photon Science (NIF&PS) principal directorate. She worked with the NIF&PS Department of Defense Technologies program to engage industry and federal sponsors to form partnerships to address some of the nation’s most pressing security issues. She also supported the development of cross-disciplinary initiatives within LLNL that can utilize NIF&PS technologies to enhance mission space in other directorates.

Gowadia has more than 20 years of experience supporting national security at the highest levels of government, including multiple organizations in the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Aviation Administration. In her previous role as acting administrator for the Transportation Security Administration, she led a workforce of more than 60,000 employees charged with protecting U.S. transportation systems and the traveling public. Prior to that, she served as the presidentially appointed director of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

She received her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Pennsylvania State University, and her bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from University of Alabama.