凯尔西·肯德尔
领导 at the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative 弗吉尼亚海岸 Node, led by 最靠谱的网赌软件, is changing this summer as current director Brian 佩恩 shifts into his new role as ODU’s Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
佩恩, vice provost for academic affairs and dean of interdisciplinary studies, has served as the director for COVA CCI for the last five years. He will move into the interim provost and vice president role starting July 1, after Austin Agho steps down from the position.
丹尼尔Takabi, director of the School of 网络安全 at ODU, will succeed 佩恩 as the initiative’s new director starting that same day.
“When we talk about the perfect person for the position, 在我看来, (Takabi) is the right one for the job,佩恩说. “He has the expertise and the skills, so I would say to him is to rely on his experience as well as the experiences of those around him to keep COVA CCI moving forward.”
Takabi said he is excited to step into this new role to help take the initiative “to the next level.”
“COVA CCI has had a significant impact on building regional partnerships among the universities, the industry and the 政府 agencies in terms of workforce development and research collaboration in cybersecurity,高比说.
Takabi was appointed to lead the School of 网络安全 in August 2023. 他获得了博士学位.D. from the University of Pittsburgh and previously served as the founding director of the Information Security and 隐私: Interdisciplinary 研究 and Education Center at Georgia State University.
大学, the School of 网络安全 and COVA CCI place an emphasis on interdisciplinary studies, bringing in students and faculty from various backgrounds and programs. 佩恩 himself is a social scientist and is tenured in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice.
As dean of interdisciplinary studies, 佩恩 said he noticed there was an opportunity to bring the concept into cybersecurity. He knew with his background in studying white collar crime that there was an opportunity to bring multiple disciplines together to create the cybersecurity major in 2015. The program started with less than a dozen students and now has approximately 1,600.
佩恩 was with COVA CCI since its inception and helped paved the way for different initiatives and research collaborations across the state. 在他的领导下, the coastal Virginia node received more than $11 million in funding from both external grants and CCI-funded research projects.
Takabi attributed much of the program’s and initiative’s success to 佩恩’s efforts.
“He has been very essential in terms of getting COVA CCI established, bringing the support in from the beginning, and has been very supportive of all the programs related to cybersecurity both at ODU and in the region,高比说.
The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative is a statewide network that includes higher education institutions and industry, 政府, non-政府 and economic development organizations. Their mission is to collaborate on cybersecurity research, 创新, workforce development and news.
Established in 2018 by the Virginia General Assembly, the initiative has more than 40 higher education institutions involved, including 最靠谱的网赌软件, more than 375 researchers and $192 million going toward sponsored programs.
CCI 弗吉尼亚海岸 is led by ODU and partners with Christopher Newport University, 威廉学院 & Mary, ECPI, Norfolk State University, Paul D. 坎普社区学院, 瑞金特大学, Tidewater 社区 College and Virginia Peninsula 社区 College.