Dr. Clay Jones earned her bachelor's degree from Loyola University, and her master's degree from Purdue University (both in physics). She then proceeded to earn her Ph.D. in Chemical Physical from the University of California, Davis. Upon completion of her graduate studies she joined the DuPont company as a physicist, at DuPont’s Pontchartrain Plant in Southern Louisiana. There she was responsible for the operational productivity of an ISO-9000 certified quality control laboratory. She subsequently transferred to the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington where she was responsible for a number of R&D projects as well as improvement of research productivity in the Central Research and Development Division. This assignment earned her her formal certification as a Six Sigma Black Belt.
She subsequently joined the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) as the Deputy Division Chief for the Computer Security Division. In that role she supported division outreach, various aspects of division management, and the assessment of the effectiveness of the division’s research and technical programs. She was also on the U.S. delegation to the ISO/IEC subcommittees responsible for developing international standards on information security. As the NIST representative, she worked to align standards with NIST guidelines and to coordinate NIST contributions with other parties. She was also the Small Business Outreach Program Manager, driving increased access for small businesses to U.S. government R&D and contracting opportunities at NIST.
She then made a successful transition into consulting, with a position at Booz Allen Hamilton as the Lead Associate, Cyber Technologies, NASA. In that role, she was responsible for the development of cybersecurity guidance and standards, including a cybersecurity framework and maturity model for assessment of the security posture of federal agencies. She was also responsible for the evaluation of agency security programs and aligned strategic and tactical plans with operational needs. She managed the assessment of security controls, implemented as common controls across agencies in compliance with NIST SP 800-53, NIST 800-53A, agency directives, and agency requirements. In this position she co-authored NIST SP 800-137, "The Information Security Continuous Monitoring for Federal Information Systems and Organizations."
Her thriving career as an information security expert earned her several positions at General Electric (GE) at various locations across the country. At GE she held several critical positions including Information Security Policy Adherence Analyst, at GE Capital Corporation; Assistant IT Controller at GE Corporate; and Global Process Analyst, GE Digital. She currently works as Sr. Policy and Compliance Coordinator , at Entergy Corporation where she is responsible for the continuous development, implementation and refinement of cybersecurity policy for the Enterprise in coordination with business units, business functions, and shared process owners.
Dr. Clay Jones has always been passionate about science and technical education. She is very active in professional organizations such as the American Physical Society (APS) and the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE). She is an adjunct faculty in the Department of Physics at Loyola University in New Orleans, where she teaches courses like "Physics of Sound" and "Investigating Nature". This is consistent with her lifelong goal of one day operating a science museum dedicated solely to experimentation by young children.