Chris Inglis doesn’t just understand America’s cyber threats; he helped build the architecture to defend against them.

Inglis served as Deputy Director of the National Security Agency under both the George W. Bush and Obama administrations, spending decades across the NSA and Department of Defense before becoming the nation’s first-ever National Cyber Director, a role created by Congress in 2021 to unify a fragmented federal cyber defense landscape. He was unanimously confirmed by the Senate, reflecting the breadth of trust he commanded across party lines.

During his tenure, Inglis built an entirely new federal office from the ground up, helped launch the Counter Ransomware Initiative to coordinate a global response to ransomware attacks, and helped lay the foundation for the first National Cyber Strategy in five years. He took office just one month after the Colonial Pipeline attack that crippled fuel supplies along the East Coast and less than a year before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Join the World Affairs Council of Charlotte on Thursday, September 10, 2026, for a lunch conversation with one of the most consequential figures in American cybersecurity, who will offer thought-provoking insights on the threats that defined his career and the challenges that define America’s future.

• Private Reception Sponsorship and Underwriting – DOWNLOAD LINK 
• WACC National Security Series Sponsorship and Underwriting – DOWNLOAD LINK 

Program Information: 

Date: Thursday, September 10th, 2026
Check-In and Pre-Lunch Networking:  11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Lunch & Presentation:  12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Location: Hilton Charlotte Uptown
Cost: $70 (WACC Member Rate) | $90 (Non-Member Rate) | $50 (Young Professionals of the World Affairs Council of Charlotte — YPWACC) | $45 (WACC Student Member / WACC Educator Member)