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Auburn’s Center for Cyber and Homeland Security to host DHS Secretary

By Austin Phillips

Published: Mar 14, 2019 10:05:00 AM

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen

Auburn University’s Center for Cyber and Homeland Security (CCHS) will host Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen on March 18 as she delivers her 2019 State of Homeland Security Address.

Nielsen will discuss a range of topics, including her priorities for 2019 and her vision for a safer, more secure homeland. The Monday event will begin at 10 a.m. EST in the Jack Morton Auditorium at George Washington University. It will also be live streamed here.

Frank J. Cilluffo, director of Auburn’s McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security and the CCHS, will moderate a question-and-answer session following the secretary’s address. Cilluffo is a globally renowned cyber and counter-terrorism expert whose expertise is cited regularly in national media, including the CBS Evening News and The Washington Post.

Retired Lt. Gen. Ronald L. Burgess, Auburn’s chief operating officer, will welcome guests and introduce Nielsen. Burgess is a 38-year Army veteran who served three years as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

“Auburn is a national leader in cyber, infrastructure and homeland security, and hosting Secretary Nielsen is just another example of how Auburn inspires, innovates and transforms in areas that matter most,” Burgess said.

Auburn’s CCHS is a nonpartisan think tank developing innovative strategies to address current and future threats to the US. The center convenes leading experts and practitioners for executive-level events, publishes policy-relevant analysis and provides expert testimony to Congress on critical issues and challenges related to cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, counterterrorism and homeland security.

The center is based in Washington, D.C., and drives the policy work of the McCrary Institute, which seeks practical solutions to real-world problems, underpinned by research and scholarship. The institute fuses theory with practice and policy with technology to protect and advance U.S. interests in the areas of cyber and critical infrastructure security. Its approaches and solutions are designed to enhance security across the public and private sectors.

Media Contact: Austin Phillips, austinp@auburn.edu, 334-844-2444

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