UMBC Cybersecurity Leadership Institute – Task Force

We are pleased to announce the search for the inaugural Director of the UMBC Cybersecurity Leadership Institute. We have selected an executive search firm, Russell Reynolds Associates, to identify a cybersecurity visionary to lead the establishment of this institute and advance UMBC in becoming the source of cyber leadership talent and thought leaders in cybersecurity education and research. We will be partnering with the search co-leads, Angela Jung and Shana Schneider, who are supported by dedicated research and project coordinator team members. 

We have also assembled a Task Force to conduct the search, inclusive of cross-disciplinary members with diverse perspectives and extensive working knowledge across UMBC. The Task Force will also review and approve exploratory projects on Cybersecurity Research and Education in a process that will launch in the coming weeks. This team will be co-led by Keith J. Bowman, Dean of the College of Engineering & Information Technology, and Karl V. Steiner, Vice President for Research & Creative Achievement. We are joined by the following team members:

• Nilanjan Banerjee, Professor, Computer Science & Electrical Engineering
• Jeffrey Davis, Professor, Political Science
• Rick Forno, Principal Lecturer, Computer Science & Engineering, Assistant Director, UMBC Center for Cybersecurity
• Ida Ngambeki, Assistant Professor, Information Systems
• Todd Pittman, Professor, Physics
• Donna Ruginski, Executive Director for Cybersecurity Initiatives 

Over the next few weeks, the team at Russell Reynolds will conduct a survey and several online interviews from the UMBC community to initiate the search and inform the development of a position description for the Institute Director.

We are inviting you to share your thoughts on this pivotal position through this online survey, as this feedback will be compiled and shared with the Task Force to help inform the search process. We hope to formally launch the recruitment process in the new year and announce the Director in the Spring of 2023. 

We are grateful to everyone in advance for their time, consideration, and support towards this critical search. We will keep you apprised of developments as the process evolves.

Thank You,

Karl V. Steiner, Vice President for Research and Creative Achievement

Keith J. Bowman, Dean, College of Engineering & Information Technology