W. Michael Dunaway

Michael Dunaway is adjunct professor in Homeland Security in the College of Professional Studies at the George Washington University. He is Founder and CEO of CIRRUS Group, a Maryland-based Public Benefit LLC focused on assisting cities and communities in digital transformation to improve city operations and services, community resilience, and overall quality of life.

From 2021-2025, he served as Associate Director for Innovation in the Smart Connected Systems Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and program lead for the Global Community Technology Challenge (GCTC), a federal Smart City program within the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Dr. Dunaway has led research centers in advanced technologies and smart cities at the University of Cincinnati and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he served concurrently as Director of the Louisiana Business Emergency Operations Center. Previous positions included Director for Preparedness and Resilience Programs at the National Headquarters of the American Red Cross; Chief for Risk Management and program lead for Community Resilience at the Science & Technology Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security; and as a project manager in the Cognitive, Neural, and Social Science Division of the Office of Naval Research.

A graduate of the United States Naval Academy, he is a veteran of the U.S. Navy, retiring from active duty at the rank of Captain. He holds an M.A. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and Ph.D. (Systems Engineering) from George Washington University.