Pitt Cyber Announces Affiliate Scholars - University of Pittsburgh News Services

November 20, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Deborah M. Todd, University of Pittsburgh News Services

[412-624-6687 dmtodd@pitt.edu]

Pitt Cyber Announces Affiliate Scholars

Inaugural cohort includes 24 renowned Pitt faculty from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, School of Computing and Information, School of Medicine, Department of Political Science, School of Arts and Sciences and School of Law

PITTSBURGH—Twenty-four University of Pittsburgh faculty members will combine their areas of expertise to support Pitt’s Institute for Cyber Law, Policy, and Security.

These affiliate scholars are drawn from the ranks of faculty at Pitt’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, Department of Political Science, School of Arts and Sciences, School of Computing and Information, School of Law and School of Medicine. Together, they realize Pitt Cyber’s ambition to bring research and teaching excellence from numerous fields to provide a unique, interdisciplinary environment for tackling cyber challenges. This is the first cohort of affiliate scholars. The institute anticipates welcoming additional colleagues from across the University this spring.

“We now have an innovative set of professionals gathering under the umbrella of the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy, and Security,” said David J. Hickton, the institute’s founding director. Hickton, who served as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania under then-President Barack Obama, also said, “These are some of the nation’s leading minds in the fields of law, public policy, and technology. Together, they will contribute their respective expertise to ongoing conversations on how to protect our nation’s best interests.”

The affiliate scholars represent a wide range of professional and scholarly research interests. They include counterterrorism experts, computer science technologists, foreign policy analysts, information security professionals, legal scholars and other thought leaders. As affiliate scholars, the chosen faculty will continue to make strides in their respective fields of study while collaborating within Pitt Cyber.

Michael Madison, Pitt Cyber’s senior scholar and academic director, said the affiliate scholars will be a source for collaborative innovation University wide.

 “We want computer technology innovators talking regularly with legal minds and counterterrorism officials discussing the issues of the day with public policy professionals. By creating this ongoing dialogue between individuals who wouldn’t usually interact, we anticipate that these researchers will find new and exciting ways to combine their interests and expertise in ways that will benefit Pitt, Pittsburgh, and American society.”

The following Pitt faculty members and researchers comprise the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy and Security’s inaugural affiliate scholars:

Graduate School of Public and International Affairs

  • Michael Kenney , an associate professor and the program director of International Affairs
  • Lisa Nelson, an associate professor of Public and International Affairs
  • Michael Poznansky, an assistant professor of International Affairs and Intelligence Studies
  • Julia Santucci, a senior lecturer in Intelligence Studies and the director of the Hesselbein Forum Leadership Program in International Affairs

Department of Political Science

School of Arts and Sciences

School of Computing and Information

  • Adam Lee, associate dean for academic programs and associate professor
  • Martin Weiss, Chair of Department of Informatics and Networked Systems

School of Law

  • Ron Brand, a Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg University Professor
  • David Harris, distinguished faculty scholar and a professor of law
  • David Thaw, assistant professor of law and information sciences

School of Medicine

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