designated a Center of Academic
Excellence in Information Assurance
scholarships under the program.
laptop computer, a co-op assignment,
and paid travel to a professional security
conference. Both will be given the
impressive title of "information assur-
ance scholar" during the co-op. The pro-
gram is being administered by Professor
Agnes Chan, who also led the effort to
have Northeastern named a Center of
Excellence.
of two hundred applicants won scholar-
ships."
NSA in Washington. The other, junior
Emerson Wiley, will go to the Naval
Research Lab. Specific assignments are
still being worked out. Although they're
both getting the same award, the two
students are approaching it with differ-
ent missions.
major in computer science and psychol-
ogy. "It's definitely what I want to do. I
got the e-mail, and I thought this looked
great." Wiley had hoped to do co-ops at
security firms in the Boston area when
he came to Northeastern, but a soft job
market meant assignments at small
tems administration positions at
Harvard University, in the network oper-
ations center and the physics depart-
ment. The NSA co-op will more than
make up for the local shortage.
goals. "I take whatever classes interest
me and will benefit me," he says. "I like
to keep my options open." With a dual
major in computer science and cognitive
psychology and a minor in East Asian
studies, Kurtz is certainly doing that. He
will travel to Japan this semester to com-
courses before taking the NSA co-op
next year.
United States. The Centers of Excellence
program was developed to promote
higher education in information assur-
ance and produce a larger number of
professionals with information assurance
expertise in a variety of disciplines.
Agnes Chan's successful efforts to win recognition and support from the government agency.