Pitt Cyber Announces Affiliate Scholars

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, Kenneth P. Dietrich 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 previously served as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, 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, senior scholar and academic director at the institute, 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 compose the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy, and Security’s inaugural affiliate scholars:

Graduate School of Public and International Affairs

• Michael Kenney, associate professor and the program director of international affairs

• Sera Linardi, assistant professor

• Lisa Nelson, associate professor

• Michael Poznansky, assistant professor

• Julia Santucci, senior lecturer and director of the Hesselbein Forum Leadership Program in International Affairs

• Phil Williams, Wesley W. Posvar Chair in International Studies

Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences

• Annette Vee, assistant professor

• Michael Colaresi, William S. Dietrich II Chair of Political Science

School of Computing and Information

• Paul Cohen, founding dean of SCI and professor

• James Joshi, professor

• Prashant Krishnamurthy, professor

• John Lange, assistant professor

• Adam Lee, associate dean for academic programs and associate professor

• Balaji Palanisamy, assistant professor

• David Tipper, professor

• Martin Weiss, chair of Department of Informatics and Networked Systems

• Taieb Znati, chair of Department of Computer Science

School of Law

• Kevin Ashley, professor

• Elena Baylis, professor

• Ron Brand, Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg University Professor

• Mary Crossley, professor

• David Harris, John E. Murray Faculty Scholar and professor

• David Thaw, assistant professor

School of Medicine

• Jonathan Silverstein, chief research informatics officer, Department of Biomedical Informatics

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