Executive Leadership Board:
Deborah K. Gracio

Associate Laboratory Director, National Security, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Education:

• M.S. Electrical Engineering, Washington State University, 1995
• B.S. Electrical Engineering, Washington State University, 1988

Deborah (Deb) Gracio is a senior executive with over 35 years of experience in the government sector focused on innovative research and development, deploying transformational solutions to the world’s most challenging problems in science, energy, and national security. As the Associate Laboratory Director of National Security at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), she leads a team of 1800 staff, overseeing a portfolio of national security programs and partnerships with $850M in annual research expenditures. Under her leadership, PNNL delivers scientific insights, tools, and methods to deploy impactful science and technology to sponsors in the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, Department of State, and the Intelligence Community. 

Prior to assuming the ALD role, Gracio served as the Chief Operating Officer of National Security, driving capability development, mission execution, and oversight of the day-to-day operations, safety, and security of the organization, with over 150 laboratories including a Cat II nuclear safety facility and a Biosafety Level III facility. Throughout her career at PNNL, Deb has led the strategy, research, development, and management of multiple cross-disciplinary, multi-laboratory programs focused on the basic sciences and national security sectors. Her work included research and development of integrated computational technologies for biodefense, computational biology, computational chemistry, and atmospheric modeling. 

Gracio is a member of the Brookhaven Science Associates Board of Directors at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Gracio sits on numerous academic executive advisory boards to include Georgia Tech Research Institute, University of Delaware Cyber Security Institute, and the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture at Washington State University. Past roles include serving on the NIST Smart Grid advisory board and the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Information Technology Strategy Board of Directors. Her philanthropic work includes chairing the Tri-Country Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors for three years, and membership of the Foundations Board of Directors for Columbia Basin College. 

Gracio is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Senior Member of the IEEE, and was recently elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences. Gracio received both her M.S. and B.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Washington State University.