CYBER LEADERS C O M P U T E R
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Auburn University and the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering are taking the lead as an institution on the forefront of cybersecurity research and professional preparedness in the industry. Interdisciplinary research and collaboration through the Charles D. McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security, the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security, the Auburn Cyber Research Center and the Lt. Gen. Ronald Lee Burgess Cyber Laboratory has positioned the university as a leader in improving the nation’s vulnerabilities in these areas. The McCrary Institute was founded in 2015 with a focus on research and advanced technologies to improve the security and operations of the country’s infrastructure while valuing natural resources and conservation. This institute enables Auburn to attract nationally recognized faculty who are at the forefront of emerging technological issues, while leveraging existing university resources and personnel to broaden the institute’s impact 22
Samuel Ginn College of Engineering
and to spur policy formation, economic development, business expansion and job creation. Frank J. Cilluffo elevated Auburn’s cyber efforts when he joined the university in 2018 as director of the McCrary Institute. Cilluffo is a member of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission and the Department of Homeland Security’s Advisory Council, and he’s routinely called upon to advise senior officials in the executive branch, U.S. Armed Services, and state and local governments on an array of matters related to national and homeland security strategy and policy. In addition to briefing congressional committees and their staffs, he has publicly testified before Congress on numerous occasions, serving as a subject matter expert on
policies related to cyber threats, counterterrorism, security and deterrence, weapons proliferation, organized crime, intelligence and threat assessments, emergency management, and border and transportation security. Similarly, he works with U.S. allies and organizations such as NATO and Europol. He has presented at a number of bi-lateral and multilateral summits on cybersecurity and counterterrorism, including the U.N. Security Council. Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Cilluffo was appointed by former President George W. Bush to the newly created Office of Homeland Security. There, he was involved in a wide range of homeland security and counterterrorism strategies, policy initiatives and served as a principal advisor to Director Tom Ridge, directing the president’s
