CESER Leadership
Andrew McClure
Director
Andrew McClure serves as the Director of the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) at the U.S. Department of Energy, where he leads efforts to strengthen the security and resilience of the nation’s energy sector.
As Director, he is responsible for hardening critical energy infrastructure, enhancing preparedness and response capabilities, and fostering partnerships across federal, state, local, and private-sector stakeholders to protect America’s energy systems against evolving cyber and physical threats. McClure is dedicated to continuing the bold and ambitious mission of President Donald J. Trump and U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright to safeguard the nation’s energy infrastructure and restore American energy dominance.
Prior to returning to public service, McClure was a venture capitalist investing for over a decade in innovative technology companies critical to national security and economic competitiveness. At Forgepoint Capital he focused on cybersecurity and infrastructure software, and he partnered with entrepreneurs to build companies developing technologies that protect enterprises from evolving cyber threats. McClure also has over 30 years of cumulative board director experience. He incubated several companies while at Forgepoint and is a Founding Investor at Surefire Cyber, Converge Insurance, and CyberCube.
Earlier in his career, he was an Intelligence Officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he led cross-functional teams specializing in signal intelligence and cyber operations in Afghanistan, the Middle East, East Africa, and Australia. McClure remains active in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.
A native of Florida, McClure holds a Master of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, a Master of Business Administration from the MIT Sloan School of Management, and a Master of Strategic Studies from the Australian National University. A proud alumnus of the U.S. Naval Academy, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Astrophysics. He has also served as a Senior Fellow at the National Security Institute and a Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Emily Burdick
Principal Deputy Director
Emily Burdick serves as Principal Deputy Director of the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER). At CESER, she advances the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) mission to strengthen the security and resilience of the energy sector. In this role, she is responsible for safeguarding the nation’s energy systems against evolving cyber and physical threats, enhancing preparedness and response, and fostering partnerships across federal, state, local, and private-sector stakeholders.
Prior to her current role, Burdick served as Director (Acting) of CESER, as well as Chief of Staff for the Office of the Under Secretary of Energy and for CESER. As Director (Acting) and Chief of Staff, she was instrumental to guiding CESER’s organizational priorities to address rising energy demand and evolving cyber and physical threats.
Burdick has extensive experience in energy and cybersecurity policy, legislative affairs, and strategic planning from DOE to Capitol Hill to the private sector. She served as Director of Government Relations for Security & Preparedness at the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), leading the industry's advocacy on grid security, preparedness, and domestic supply chains. Before EEI, Burdick served as a Senior Professional Staff Member on the House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection. Additionally, during the first Trump Administration, she served in DOE’s Office of Electricity.
Burdick is a native of Long Island, New York. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Loyola University Maryland and an ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity credential.
Leslie Pezzullo
Chief Operating Officer
Leslie Pezzullo serves as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER). As COO of the Corporate Business Office (CBO), Ms. Pezzullo holds a pivotal role within CESER’s office.
Her responsibilities include comprehensive oversight and strategic direction of essential business functions. This includes the management of budget formulation and execution and ensuring financial resources are allocated and utilized effectively to achieve organizational objectives. In this role, Ms. Pezzullo also oversees procurement and acquisition management, federal information technology (IT) systems, human resources, and related cross-cutting services supporting CESER’s workforce.
Ms. Pezzullo draws on more than 20 years of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) experience bringing an extensive portfolio of federal budget and business management expertise to CESER. Before joining CESER in May 2025, Ms. Pezzullo served as Deputy Director of Business Operations in the Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP) where she worked with state, local, and tribal governments to deploy critical energy technologies, create jobs, and improve energy efficiency. Prior to that she served as DOE’s Chief of Staff, Operations for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
Ms. Pezzullo is an avid reader and loves to travel. She holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University.
Daniel LaGraffe
Deputy Director of Infrastructure Hardening and Technology Development
Dan LaGraffe serves as Deputy Director in CESER’s Infrastructure Hardening and Technology Development Division, where he utilizes his technological expertise to drive advancements in energy sector security and resilience through collaborative public-private initiatives and technology deployment.
Mr. LaGraffe develops and directs programs that transform innovative solutions into deployable capabilities for utilities and grid operators. These initiatives include AI-enabled detection, component and supply chain assurance, system level resilience, and cybersecurity support for smaller utilities, municipalities, and cooperatives. He leads multidisciplinary research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) across DOE national laboratories and academia, and oversees initiatives related to standards, integration, and testing.
Prior to this role, Mr. LaGraffe served as DOE’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) (acting), Deputy CISO, and Director of Cybersecurity Operations, providing enterprise leadership across more than 50 DOE sites, including 17 national laboratories. He directed Federal employees and contractors, managed a portfolio of mission-critical programs, launched DOE-wide threat and vulnerability management, established the department’s first comprehensive Vulnerability Disclosure Program, and built a quantitative risk management capability to inform strategic decisions. While serving in these roles, Mr. LaGraffe coordinated major incident response efforts and led enterprise cybersecurity data modernization through the development of the DOE Big Data Platform.
Before joining DOE, Mr. LaGraffe served in national security and cybersecurity focused roles across the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Cyber Command, and the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. He led major international engagements, expanded operational partnerships across Europe and the Asia-Pacific, and negotiated information-sharing agreements that connected key allies to automated indicator sharing programs for real-time threat exchange. He strengthened military-to-military cyberspace coordination with NATO and Indo-Pacific partners and advised senior leaders on cyber strategy, policy, and operations, representing U.S. interests in high-level interagency and diplomatic forums.
Mr. LaGraffe holds a Master of Science in Information Security Engineering from the SANS Technology Institute, a Master of Arts in security policy studies from The George Washington University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Arizona State University. He holds numerous industry-standard certifications including CISSP, CISM, and multiple GIAC credentials spanning incident response, forensics, and security architecture. He is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and currently serves as a Navy Reserve Officer. Mr. LaGraffe completed a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF) at the Office of the Secretary of Defense.