Save the date:

Wednesday, October 11 from 10.00-11.00 am in 103A Anheuser-Busch Hall

U.S. Bank has awarded $10,000 in scholarships to 3 of our cybersecurity students – David Autry ($5,000), Vii Maurice Bishop ($2,500), and Alan Alyas ($2,500).

The awards ceremony will take place on Wednesday, October 11 from 10.00-11.00 am in 103A Anheuser-Busch Hall. Senior managers from U.S. Bank will be in attendance and David Autry will make a short acceptance speech. I would greatly appreciate your attendance at this ceremony to recognize our students. Coffee cakes, mini-scones, mini-danishes, and coffee/tea will be served as refreshments. UMSL Daily will cover the event.

Here are brief biographies of the scholarship awardees.

David Autry is pursuing the Master of Science in Information Systems at the University of Missouri – St. Louis as well as the Graduate Certificate in Cybersecurity. He has a passion for technology and taught himself programming and assembly language as a youth. He has designed and written an application that transforms two-dimensional magnetic resonance images of a human brain into a three-dimensional model. He plans to complete an internship in cybersecurity in service of a government agency before branching out into the field to help curb cyber threats to organizations and individuals. He has excelled throughout his academic career earning Latin honors distinction in his undergraduate degrees.

Vernon (Vii) Maurice Bishop is pursing the Graduate Certificate in Cybersecurity at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. He is an alumnus of UMSL having graduated Cum Laude with the Bachelor of Arts in Music. His interest in cybersecurity stems from years of practice analyzing and processing data as well as his natural inclination towards mathematics. He is particularly interested in a career in penetration testing to help protect sensitive information from malicious attacks. Vii plans to earn professional certifications in the field and to give back to society with his professional skills.

Alan Alyas is pursuing the Master of Science in Information Systems at the University of Missouri – St. Louis as well as the Graduate Certificate in Cybersecurity. He is an alumnus of UMSL having earned the Bachelor of Music Performance degree. Alan believes his background in music has enabled him to become a successful cybersecurity analyst as both have taught him to practice his craft on a daily basis and to use critical thinking and problem solving skills. His natural trait for understanding the behaviors and reactions of people to certain problems and situations enables him to appreciate the human and social engineering aspects of cybersecurity.