Auburn Engineering senior named finalist for Marshall Scholarship

Auburn University senior Matthew Rogers has been named as a finalist for the prestigious Marshall Scholarship. The Honors College student majoring in software engineering with the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering will interview at the British Consulate in Atlanta on Tuesday, Nov. 7. If selected, he will pursue a DPhil, or doctor of philosophy, in Cyber Security at the Centre for Doctoral Training at The University of Oxford.

Matthew Rogers

"Matthew falls solidly into the category of cool cyber dude,” said David Umphress, the COLSA Corporation Cyber Security and Information Assurance Professor and director of the Auburn Cyber Research Center. "He is not only technically adept and intellectually acute, but he is also conscientious, respectful and personable. I consider him as punching well above his weight in the fight for learning and I feel strongly that he possesses the makings of a great scholar and leader.”

Rogers, a native of Huntsville, is a funded undergraduate research fellow and is currently enrolled in three graduate-level courses while maintaining a perfect 4.0 grade-point average. He has worked three of the past summers as an undergraduate research intern at Dynetics Inc. where he helped develop malware analysis tools in an effort to automate vulnerability scanning and exploitation. In addition, Rogers has given numerous presentations on malware analysis at professional conferences throughout the country. Outside the classroom and research, Rogers serves as an Honors College Ambassador, an Undergraduate Research Ambassador, a co-founder of the Auburn Ethical Hacking Club and as past treasurer for the Auburn Chapter of the Association of Computing Machinery.

"I am thrilled and honored to be named a Marshall finalist, and I am deeply grateful to everyone who has helped me along the way,” Rogers said. "I look forward to meeting with the Marshall Scholarship selection committee next month.”

"Pursuing a DPhil at the Centre for Doctoral Training will provide Matthew the in-depth knowledge that will be required to aid in future policy decisions created to enforce cyber security,” said Paul Harris, associate director of the Honors College and professor of political science. "We look forward to continuing working with Matthew as he prepares for his formal interview with the Marshall Scholarship selection committee in early November.”

Named for former Army Chief of Staff and Secretary of State Gen. George C. Marshall, the scholarship provides 40 of the most outstanding undergraduates in the country an opportunity to study at any university in the United Kingdom. The award focuses on exceptional academic merit and the potential a student may have to become a world leader and ambassador.

- Written by Wade Berry of the Honors College