Dr. Lourdes Herling will speak at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24, in Gardner Hall Auditorium. The public is invited.
Former Wayne State College instructor Dr. Lourdes Herling, now a cybersecurity professional with the Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD), will be the featured speaker during “CatCHAT: We’re Talking Biz & Tech” at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24, in the Gardner Hall Auditorium at Wayne State. The public is invited, and the presentation will last approximately 20-25 minutes.
The event will also be livestreamed.
Herling is the cybersecurity governance and risk and assurance manager at NPPD. She joined NPPD in 2016 as a cybersecurity analyst, later serving as corporate cybersecurity manager before assuming her current role in 2022.
Herling has more than 20 years of combined experience in software engineering, cybersecurity, and academia. She previously worked as a developer for a U.S. Department of Defense contractor and a manufacturing firm, and she spent 13 years teaching computer science and information technology at Wayne State and Central Community College.
Herling earned her bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from Texas A&M University-Commerce, her master’s degree in Computer Science from Colorado State University, and her Ed.D. in Adult and Higher Education from the University of South Dakota.
A leader in collaborative cybersecurity efforts, Herling serves as treasurer and director of Cyber Strong Nebraska, playing a key role in the Cyber Tatanka exercises, immersive training events that bring together utilities, government, military, and academia to strengthen cyber incident response. She is also active in several electric industry organizations.
CatCHAT is a series developed by Wayne State’s School of Business and Technology. It is designed to inspire and empower future leaders to stay in Northeast Nebraska, start businesses, and help the greater community prosper.