October 25th, 2019
The finalists for several award categories in the EC-Council Academia Partner awards program attended a black-tie gala in their honor in Atlanta, GA on October 9th prior to the annual Hacker Halted and Global CISO Forum conferences on the 10th and 11th.
In this year’s black-tie ceremony, EC-Council honored higher education leaders and innovators in information security by recognizing finalists and winners in the following categories:
| 2019 Academic Instructor of the Year | (1 Recipient) |
| 2019 Academic Circle of Excellence Instructor | (3 Recipients) |
| 2019 Academic Best Newcomer Award | (1 Recipient) |
| 2019 Academic Innovator of the Year Award | (1 Recipient) |
| 2019 Academic Circle of Excellence Award | (4 Recipients) |
| 2019 Academic Partner of the Year Award | (1 Recipient) |
The Annual Academic Awards precedes both Hacker Halted, EC-Council’s largest annual cybersecurity conference, and the Global CISO Forum, EC-Council’s premier executive-level event. EC-Council’s Academic Awards recognize institutions and instructors each year that impact others through their commitment to educate and make a difference in the cybersecurity workforce. EC-Council Academic Award recipients are first selected based on a specific award qualification categories and criteria. EC-Council’s Executive Committee reviews each nominee’s impact, assessing their faculty, student experiences, efforts outside of the classroom, individual faculty involvement, and more prior to voting on an award recipient.
The first award category was the Academia Best New Comer of the Year award. This award is presented to an institution based on their commitment to educate and make a difference in the cybersecurity workforce, student feedback on EC-Council courses and faculty, evaluation reports, student interaction, ratio of students who earn EC-Council certifications, and their volume of students taking EC-Council courses..
The 2019 award winner was Miami Dade College (MDC) in Miami, FL. After partnering with EC-Council and also opening the Cybersecurity Center for the Americas, MDC has helped ensure students and local organizations in the city of Miami are equipped with the most current and relevant tools to succeed in the information security and cybersecurity careers of tomorrow. They continue to do so at both the credit and non-credit levels.
(Left, Sanjay Bavisi, President and CEO- EC-Council; Left-Middle, Diego Tibaquira – MDC; Right-Middle, Rodolfo Cruz-MDC; Right, Wesley Alvarez, Director of Academics, EC-Council)
The next Academia award is the Academia Innovator of the Year award. The winner of this award won based on their commitment to educate and make a difference in the cybersecurity workforce, instructor engagement and course development, student interaction, and continuous technology development in the classroom.
The winner of this year’s award was Fayetteville Technical Community College (FTCC). FTCC is a comprehensive community college in Fayetteville, North Carolina that challenges students in and outside of the classroom. FTCC has implemented several EC-Council certifications but also focuses on mobile security and challenging students to build Capture-the-Flag (CTF) environments with STORM Mobile hacking kits.
(Left, Sanjay Bavisi, President and CEO- EC-Council; Left-Middle, Tenette Prevatte – FTCC; Right-Middle, Chris Herring-FTCC; Right, Wesley Alvarez, Director of Academics, EC-Council)
The next Academic award category is the Academic Circle of Excellence. This award was presented to four institutions this year. The criteria for this category includes the commitment to educate and make a difference in the cybersecurity workforce, student feedback on EC-Council courses and faculty, evaluation reports, student interaction, ratio of students who move earn EC-Council certifications, and their volume of students taking EC-Council courses..
This year’s winners were:
| University of Maryland Global Campus (Offering CEH) | (College Park, MD) | *3rd Year Award Recipient |
| University of Phoenix (Offering CSCU, CND, CEH, CCISO) | (Phoenix, AZ) | |
| Applied Technology Academy (Offering CND, CEH, CHFI, ECSA, CCISO, ECES, ECIH) | (Tampa, FL) | *3rd Year Award Recipient |
| Olympic College (Offering CEH) | (Seattle, WA) |
Academic Circle of Excellence awards are presented to some of the most prestigious, successful, and impactful cybersecurity education programs across the nation. These recipients are each hand selected from over a thousand Academic partners.
(Left, Sanjay Bavisi, President and CEO- EC-Council; Middle, Kevin Cardwell–UMUC; Right, Wesley Alvarez, Director of Academics, EC-Council)
(Left, Sanjay Bavisi, President and CEO- EC-Council; Left-Middle, Kim–ATA; Right-Middle, Lynn Fisher-ATA; Right, Wesley Alvarez, Director of Academics, EC-Council)
(Left, Sanjay Bavisi, President and CEO- EC-Council; Left-Middle, Ryan Williams–UoP; Right-Middle, Kathryn Uhles-UoP; Right, Wesley Alvarez, Director of Academics, EC-Council)
Next was the Academic Instructor Circle of Excellence award category. This award is presented to three faculty members each year. The criteria for this category includes student ratings and feedback, participation in supporting student initiatives and events, the ability to take on new certifications, developing overarching initiatives to influence cybersecurity careers and more.
This year’s winners were:
| Jaci Lederman, Vincennes University | (Vincennes, IN) |
| Laila Sears, CIAT | (San Diego, CA) |
| Dr. Teju Oyewole, Lambton College | (Ontario, Canada) |
(Left, Sanjay Bavisi, President and CEO- EC-Council; Middle, Jaci Lederman–VU; Right, Wesley Alva
rez, Director of Academics, EC-Council)
(Left, Sanjay Bavisi, President and CEO- EC-Council; Middle, Laila Sears-CIAT; Right, Wesley Alvarez, Director of Academics, EC-Council)
(Left, Sanjay Bavisi, President and CEO- EC-Council; Middle, Dr. Teju Oyewole-LC; Right, Wesley Alvarez, Director of Academics, EC-Council)
Academic Instructor Circle of Excellence awards are presented to the most successful, and impactful cybersecurity faculty across the nation. These recipients are each hand selected from over a thousand academic faculty.
Academic Instructor Circle of the Year award is presented to one single faculty member each year. This year’s award was presented to Mr. Jason McHuen from Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA).
The final and most coveted Academia award category is the Academic Partner of the Year Award. This year’s winner was Western Governors University (WGU). This is a university made for a new kind of student. WGU’s focus is on the success of their students and graduates. WGU offers the unique, dedicated, and driven busy adult student of the 21st century the best chance for success. Their affordable Bachelors and Masters-level programs in cybersecurity and information assurance offer EC-Council’s ECIH, ECES, CEH, and CHFI certification programs, certifying thousands over the years.
This was the third year in a row WGU was awarded this honor by EC-Council. The award was again presented to WGU based on their commitment to educate and make a difference in the cybersecurity workforce, successful evaluation reports post class, student engagement and interaction, the ratio of students that move on to successfully pass EC-Council certifications, continuous program development, and more.
(Left, Sanjay Bavisi, President and CEO- EC-Council; Middle, Lestelle Greenwalt-WGU; Right, Wesley Alvarez, Director of Academics, EC-Council)
About EC-Council
EC-Council has been the world’s leading information security certification body since the launch of their flagship program, Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), which created the ethical hacking industry in 2002. Since the launch of CEH, EC-Council has added industry-leading programs to their portfolio to cover all aspects of information security including EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA), Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (CHFI), Certified Chief Information Security Officer (CCISO), among others. EC-Council Foundation, the non-profit branch of EC-Council, created Global CyberLympics, the world’s first global hacking competition. EC-Council Foundation also hosts a suite of conferences across the US and around the world including Hacker Halted and Global CISO Forum.
For more information about EC-Council, please see www.eccouncil.org
