Biography

Dr. Jessica Whitaker currently teaches in the Graduate School at Howard as an Adjunct Instructor, where she has designed the courses Engineering and Managing Data with SQL and Harnessing Data for Energy and Climate Equity for the M.S. in Applied Data Science & Analytics program. With a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in electrical engineering (EE) and over 25 years of experience in public utilities, she now works as a general engineer with the Office of Electricity within the Department of Energy (DOE). In this role, she deploys resilient electrical grid solutions, including cybersecurity, cloud strategies, AI, and other technologies, working with several DOE National Laboratories. At Howard University, Dr. Whitaker received a Ph.D. in EE, a Graduate Certificate in Computer Security, a Graduate Certificate in Preparing Future Faculty, and served as a Postdoctoral Fellow. Her Ph.D. research focused on using AI for cybersecurity within the smart power grid to detect malicious cyberattacks on underserved communities, with work on energy insecurity and energy poverty.