PRESS RELEASE
Bridging Research to Practice in Government Cyber-Resilience and IT Modernization
George Mason’s Center of Excellence for Government Cybersecurity Risk Management and Resilience (CRC) Announces Executive Advisory Board to Partner with Industry Leaders on Cyber and IT Education and Research Initiatives
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Advisory Board will provide strategic guidance to CRC in planning for leading edge research and programming to further government cyber resilience and IT modernization.
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Advisory Board will strengthen CRC relationships with federal, state and local governments.
FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA, May 20th, 2024
The Center of Excellence in Government Cybersecurity Risk Management and Resilience (CRC) at George Mason University proudly announces the formation of its Advisory Board, comprising distinguished leaders and experts from the realms of cybersecurity, IT modernization, and critical infrastructure systems.
With continued rapid innovation and adoption of new technologies including AI, governments are facing increasing challenges in furthering their cybersecurity resilience and planning and implementing IT modernization.
"At the heart of our mission lies the commitment to equip government agencies with the tools, knowledge, and resilience needed to navigate the complex terrain of cybersecurity risks," stated Dr. Shehu, Co-Director of CRC and Professor of Computer Science. "With the establishment of our Advisory Board, we are poised to harness the collective wisdom and expertise of leaders who share our vision for a safer, more secure digital ecosystem."
The Advisory Board comprises seasoned professionals renowned for their contributions to the fields of IT modernization, cybersecurity, and governance. Dr. Auffret, who co-directs CRC with Dr. Shehu, spearheaded the formation of the advisory board and envisions the board members’ diverse backgrounds and deep domain knowledge will guide the Center in furthering research to practice and crafting tailored solutions and delivering executive education programs enhancing federal and local government cybersecurity posture.
The Advisory Board members are from federal, state and local government, private sector and academia and have executive and entrepreneurial as well as technical expertise. Together, they bring a wealth of experience and insights that will steer CRC towards achieving its mission of contributing to safeguarding the nation's digital infrastructure.
Founding members of the Advisory Board include:
- Scott Bruce, Business Development Executive, Citizen and Public Services, Peraton
- Heather Dahl, CEO, Indicio
- Jennifer Franks, Director, Information Technology and Cybersecurity, Government Accountability Office
- Gregory Garrett, VP, Cybersecurity Capabilities, Peraton
- Andrew Heifetz, Founder and CEO, Ampsight
- Charles Huntley, Director of Technology, Essex County, Commonwealth of Virginia
- Gabriel Irizarry, Principal Account Technical Lead, IBM
- Larry Medsker, Chair, ACM US Technology Policy Committee and Co Editor-in-Chief, AI and Ethics Journal
- Bao Nguyen, Acting Technology Director, Fairfax Water
- Matthew Posid, Chief Security Officer, KPMG
- VJ Rao, CISO, Fairfax County Public Schools
- Gary Rinkerman , IP Attorney, Pierson Ferdinand LLP
- Subra Seshadri, VP, Enterprise Architecture Strategy, Governance and Corporate Systems, Fannie Mae
- Graham Smith, Cyber Security Specialist/Healthcare, IBM
- Marilyn T Smith, Former Vice President of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer (CIO), George Mason University
- Charlie Spann, Acting CIO, George Mason University
- Frank Strickland, Partner, aiLeaders LLC
- Mike Watson, CISO, Commonwealth of Virginia
One of CRC’s current initiatives is the AI Executive Order Webinar Series, a public education initiative in response to the White House’s Executive Order, which aims to assess, monitor, regulate, and direct developments in the technological growth in artificial intelligence. More information about the upcoming webinars can be found at: https://crc.gmu.edu/events/category/ai_exec_order_webinar_series/.
To partner with the Center of Excellence in Government Cybersecurity Risk Management and Resilience and for more information the Center and its Advisory Board, please visit crc.gmu.edu or contact Dr. J.P. Auffret at jauffret@gmu.edu.
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About the Center of Excellence in Government Cybersecurity Risk Management and Resilience:
The Center of Excellence serves as a strategic partner in federal, state and local government cybersecurity and IT modernization efforts. CRC translates state-of-the-art research into practice, provides executive education and convenes workshops and conferences on current government cybersecurity and IT modernization challenges, disseminates best practices, and fosters organizational capacity within federal, state and local governments.