The Georgia Tech Information Security Center (GTISC), housed in the College of Computing, has grown a robust set of information security education options to help fill the growing demand for information security expertise. This semester six students, two bachelors, three master’s and one Ph.D., graduated on May 1 with expertise in information security.

The first two undergraduate students graduating with a B.S. in Computer Science with an Information Assurance certificate are James P. (Jim) Gruen and Stephen C. (Craig) Wampler. The recently approved Information Assurance certificate is a joint program between the College of Computing and the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

After graduation, Gruen and Wampler both plan to work for the National Security Agency (NSA). They both participated in Cyber Corps, a scholarship opportunity for students in either the Department of Defense Information Assurance Scholarship Program or the NSF Scholarship for Service Program, designed to increase and strengthen the cadre of federal information assurance professionals who protect the government’s critical information infrastructure.

Another Cyber Corps participant, Sheree N. Elliott, graduated with a Master of Science in Information Security. Two years ago, Elliot was the first Georgia Tech student selected for the Department of Defense Information Assurance Scholarship Program. Elliot interned with NSA last summer and plans to work for the agency after graduation. She received her undergraduate degree in computer science from Clark Atlanta University, a historically black college and university (HBCU) partner with GTISC.

As a designated National Security Agency Center of Academic Excellence in Information Security Assurance Education, GTISC has a unique information security education and scholarship partnership with three HBCUs in Atlanta-Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College and Spelman College.