Dr. Ceren Susut serves as the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Grid Controls and Security in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity (OE). In this role, she leads the newly established Grid Controls and Security Division following OE’s functional reorganization and advances strategies and investments at the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, data, high-performance computing (HPC), and quantum information science (QIS) to strengthen the security, resilience, affordability, and reliability of the Nation’s electric grid. She works closely with utilities, data centers, industry, academia, and DOE national laboratories to identify opportunities to accelerate innovation and the deployment of advanced technologies.
Dr. Susut has more than 15 years of leadership experience at DOE spanning HPC, AI, data, microelectronics, and quantum technologies. Throughout her career, she has focused on shepherding emerging technologies from research toward impact by building the ecosystems needed for innovation—bringing together government, national laboratories, academia, industry, and technology developers around shared challenges and opportunities. Her work has emphasized creating connections across traditionally separate communities, aligning research and infrastructure investments with mission needs, and building partnerships that accelerate the development, transition, and deployment of new technologies.
Dr. Susut previously served as Associate Director of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) in DOE’s Office of Science, where she provided executive leadership for a portfolio of more than $1.1 billion in research, scientific user facilities, and technology programs. During her tenure in ASCR, she helped shape major DOE initiatives and public-private partnerships in AI, data, HPC, and QIS. She oversaw the successful completion of DOE’s $1.8 billion Exascale Computing Project and the acquisition and operation of world-leading computing infrastructure, including Frontier and Aurora, the world’s first two exascale supercomputers. She also played a leading role in building DOE’s QIS portfolio, helping grow the effort from its inception in 2016 to an investment of more than $300 million in 2026 and leading the establishment of the National QIS Research Centers.
Dr. Susut has played a significant role in shaping the Department’s efforts in AI for Science, leading a series of community-wide engagement that brought together thousands of participants from the national laboratories, academia, industry, and government. These efforts helped build a shared vision for integrating AI, advanced computing, scientific data, and DOE’s unique research infrastructure to accelerate scientific discovery and address complex energy and national security challenges. She also helped connect advances in AI, data, and HPC with DOE mission needs, including grid modernization, advanced manufacturing, and the design and operation of nuclear reactors.
Earlier in her career, Dr. Susut served as a Program Director in the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Division and as a National Research Council Research Associate at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Dr. Susut earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Georgetown University, an M.S. in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Arlington, and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Bogazici University in Turkey.
