Ignatius Liberto

Ignatius Liberto is a seasoned and experienced strategic thinker and executive leader with more than four decades of experience in the U.S. Military and Government, and private sector with expertise in leading change, resource management, training and education, and mentoring. He joined the Tulane University faculty in 2021. In 2026, Liberto was selected as the Tulane University Information Technology Program Department’s new Professor of Practice.

Ignatius Liberto was commissioned in December 1984 and over his 30-year career, he served in and commanded numerous Infantry and Force Reconnaissance units across all four Marine Corps Divisions. He then served as the first Marine Officer assigned to 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment – Delta (Airborne) at Fort Bragg. As a Colonel, he was assigned as the Chief of Staff for US Marines Forces Command and twice served with the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Staff Training Program (MSTP) in Quantico first as the Operations Officer, and then as the Officer-in-Charge.

He was an Adjunct Professor for five years with the USMC College of Distant Education & Training, Marine Corps University’s for the Command and Staff Course. He also taught leadership and ethics for two years with the United States Navy Community College. Ignatius Liberto is a graduate of the following US Marine Corps schools: USMC Infantry Officers’ Course; USMC Amphibious Reconnaissance Course; USMC Amphibious Warfare School; USMC Command and Staff College; and numerous courses at the National Defense University, Joint Forces Staff College, Harvard University’s JFK School of Government, and the Naval War College.  He graduated with honors from the following US Army Schools: Airborne, Ranger, Combat Diver, Pathfinder, Military Freefall, Jump Master, Dive Supervisor, and five other military courses at the US Army’s Special Warfare Center at Ft Bragg, NC.

Following his military retirement, Ignatius Liberto joined the Federal civilian workforce for more than ten years. He is formerly the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) – cybersecurity operations – for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), where he provided leadership for innovative cyber tools and infrastructure implementation; cyber defensive operations; and identity, credential, and access management. He assisted the Chief Information Officer (CIO) with the strategic direction and management of Department-wide enterprise cybersecurity threat and vulnerability information to enable the Department to identify, protect, detect, respond, and recover from cyberattacks to protect their mission-critical assets and information, thereby securing our country’s diverse food, agriculture, rural and natural resources programs.

Prior to joining USDA, he served for four years as the Director of Cybersecurity Risk Management and Compliance for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) where he also served as the DOE’s enterprise Authorizing Official. He and his team were responsible for building and implementing innovative Department-wide enterprise risk-based cybersecurity programs to provide effective mitigation against emerging threat trends.

Ignatius also served as a Department of Defense (DoD) Federal Civilian with Joint Force Headquarters - Department of Defense Information Network (JFHQ-DODIN) where he initially supervised his newly formed organization’s Full Operational Capable readiness assessment and certification as a joint component of United States Cyber Command. He was then promoted to Chief of Staff, where he served as the principal advisor to the Commander and synchronized all staff functions to effectively provide global command and control of DODIN operations and defensive cyberspace operations for the DoD.

Ignatius earned his undergraduate degree in 1984 and his Master of Science Degree in Cybersecurity Management and a Master Certificate in Cyber Defense in 2020 all from Tulane University, as well as a Master Certificate in Applied Program Management from Villanova University in 2013. He has been inducted into the Order of the Sword and Shield, the National Information Technology Honor Society, and was also credentialed as a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) by ISASC in 2022.

Ignatius believes in life-long learning, and is passionate about being a trainer, coach, and mentor to those within his sphere of influence. An enthusiastic student of history, he enjoys sharing interesting stories about our past with anyone willing to listen. While Ignatius’ background is deeply rooted in New Orleans, he currently lives in eastern Tennessee and enjoys the adventure lifestyle with his wife and dogs in the Appalachian Mountains.