Information Systems Security Officer

Michael Manelski is IHMC’s Information Systems Security Officer. A retired U.S. Navy Chief Warrant Officer, he brings more than 22 years of operational, technical, and security experience to the institute.

At IHMC, Manelski leads the implementation, maintenance, and monitoring of security controls under the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program and NIST security frameworks — the standards IHMC and its federal research sponsors meet together to protect sensitive information across the research enterprise. His approach treats security as an enabler of research: helping teams weigh risk against mission benefit and make practical, defensible decisions.

Manelski’s Navy career spanned the Information Warfare community’s core disciplines — electronic warfare, cryptologic operations, and cyber. At sea, he served as an Information Warfare Officer aboard a deployed warship, advising command leadership on time-critical tactical and security decisions. Ashore, he led the modernization of how the Navy designed and delivered training across its cryptologic, cyber, and electronic warfare schoolhouses, preparing the next generation of Information Warfare leaders for exactly those environments.

His Navy assignments included the USS Higgins, USS San Jacinto, and USS Somerset, along with leadership roles at Commander, U.S. Third Fleet and the Information Warfare Training Commands in San Diego and at Corry Station.