Athena Arison is the Linux Department Chair and Principal Instructor specializing in Computer Network Operations (CNO), with over eight years of experience as a software engineer.

As a retired U.S. Army veteran, she brings a mission-focused mindset and operational discipline to both technical development and academic instruction. Following her military career, she transitioned into software engineering with a focus on Linux systems and CNO, supporting secure infrastructure, tool development, and training pipelines aligned with government and defense initiatives.

As department chair, Athena leads curriculum development in topics such as exploit development, reverse engineering, systems programming in Linux environments, and kernel development — equipping students with the critical skills needed for CNO roles in national security.

She is dedicated to shaping technically capable, ethically grounded professionals prepared to meet the challenges of modern computer network operations in both public and private sectors.