McDaniel named Weiss Chair in Information and Communications Technology
7/21/2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Patrick McDaniel, Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Engineering in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Penn State, has been named the William L. Weiss Chair in Information and Communications Technology.
“Patrick is an internationally renowned researcher in computer, network and systems security. He is also the overall primary investigator for the largest Army-funded cybersecurity project and the director of the Institute of Networking and Security Research at Penn State,” said School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Director Thomas La Porta. “This is a very well deserved honor.”
The William L. Weiss Chair is named after the chairman and CEO of the Ameritech Foundation. Weiss was a 1951 industrial engineering graduate, who passed away in October 2016. The chair was established in Weiss’s name to provide a distinguished faculty member in the College of Engineering the “opportunity to continue and further scholarly excellence through contributions to instruction, research and public service.”
Currently, McDaniel serves as program manager and lead scientist for the Cyber Security (CS) Collaborative Research Alliance (CRA), a 10-year, $48 million project aimed at establishing a new science of computer and network security for military systems and deployments around the world. The CRA is led by Penn State and includes faculty and researchers from the Army Research Laboratory; Carnegie Mellon University; Indiana University; the University of California, Davis; the University of California, Riverside; and Applied Communication Services.
McDaniel is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and Association for Computing Machinery the premier professional organizations for engineering and computer science worldwide. McDaniel’s awards and honors include: the Google Security and Product Safety Acknowledgement for his efforts to improve the security of Google’s Android cellular phone operating system; a 2009 Penn State Engineering Alumni Society Outstanding Research Award; and a 2008 Commendation for Exceptional Leadership and Achievement from the State of Ohio for his work in evaluating and recommending best practice in presidential elections.
In 2007, he received a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development grant to support his investigations in bridging the theoretical and practical gaps between information security and computer programming languages.
He earned his doctorate in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of Michigan, his master’s degree in computer science from Ball State, and his bachelor’s degree in computer science from Ohio University.
Share this story:
Patrick McDaniel
