It's difficult to imagine that there could be a better ambassador of the TSYS School's cybersecurity education (and other TSYS School and Turner College) endeavors than Patrick Aiken, the Director of the Turner College's TSYS Center for Cybersecurity. Just last month, Aiken was part of a team (including Turner College Dean Deb Kidder) that spoke to a delegation of Georgia leaders, including Governor Brian Kemp, USG Chancellor Sonny Perdue, and several others, about the TSYS School's Nexus cybersecurity programs. Aiken described the visit as "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for [TSYS School] students, instructors, and industry partners to tell the impressive success story of [its] cybersecurity Nexus program."
Since then, he attended newly-appointed CSU President Stuart Rayfield's Investiture Luncheon, which he described as an honor, and made an appearance at Threat Level Midnight, Columbus' first-ever cybersecurity conference that was sponsored in part by the Columbus chapter of the Information Systems Security Association. Aiken described the conference as a "great opportunity for our Columbus State University cybersecurity Nexus students to learn and network," adding afterwards that he is already "looking forward to next year's conference."
Just the other night, and at the invitation of MIS professor Jennifer Pitts, Aiken spoke to students in Pitts' MBA-level information systems course about technology and cybersecurity. In describing the opportunity to provide the guest lecture, Aiken noted, "It was a lot of fun talking about personal cybersecurity best practices and how the same principles apply to protecting corporate and organizational assets. [As part of that,] my colleague, James DeLauder, gave us all a tour of the server room at CSU."
One might ask, what is Aiken up to now? The usual. He and his talented colleagues Elke Brumbaugh and Armando Fernandez, are currently recruiting students for Cohort 10 of the Nexus cybersecurity program, organizing a Mock Interview Event for early November, assisting current Nexus cybersecurity students in attaining licensures, inviting professionals to speak to the students, visiting local area schools to boost interest in computer science and cybersecurity, and the list goes on.
Perhaps Aiken's importance to the Turner College is best encapsulated by Roydon D'Souza, a graduate of the TSYS School's Nexus program in cybersecurity and currently a Security Analyst at Global Payments. In describing a visit to the TSYS School by Marie Taylor (of Global Payments' IT Risk group) during his time in the program, D'Souza remarked, "This is why the Nexus program . . . is truly exceptional. The program offers a unique opportunity to interact with industry-level professionals on a personal level, fostering invaluable one-on-one connections. As an alumni, I feel incredibly blessed to have been a part of this remarkable experience." It's this type of sentiment that explains, as do the photos accompanying this blog post, why Aiken is to many people a sort of Michael Jordan-esque figure in the halls of the Synovus Center and beyond.
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