Martha S.H. VanDriel

Director for IT Risk Management Policy | Merck

Martha VanDriel is the Director for IT Risk Management Policy at Merck, where she is responsible for cybersecurity policy; cybersecurity regulatory change management; and cybersecurity control monitoring, compliance, and enforcement.

Prior to joining Merck, Martha retired as a U.S. Army Colonel, serving as the Director for Cyber Mission Force Readiness at the Office of the Principal Cyber Advisor, U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense. While there, she successfully coordinated across nearly 30 disparate organizations to resolve cyberspace manning, training, policy, and readiness issues within the Department of Defense and U.S. Cyber Command.

As a U.S. Army officer, Martha taught International Relations at West Point and was trained as a contingency planner, working on multi-service warplans in Korea, Iraq, and the Pacific. In 2011, she was assigned as U.S. Army Cyber Command’s first Chief of Plans and Policy, shortly after the organization was formed. She subsequently led the rapid multi-year build of the U.S. Army’s Cyber Mission Force teams, and began the groundwork that resulted in the formation of the U.S. Army’s Cyberspace Operations personnel branch. In addition, she wrote a groundbreaking article that diagnosed systemic obstacles to the incorporation of cyberspace into military operational planning, which has shaped how U.S. Army cyberspace officers are trained.

Martha holds a B.S. degree in International Relations and History from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, as well as an M.A. in National Security Studies from UNC-Chapel Hill. She has earned awards at several professional military education courses and is a U.S. Army senior parachutist. In her free time, Martha enjoys volunteering at her church, and she lives in Virginia with her husband and two teenage sons.