Lawrence Williams new program director for the Minority Serving - Cyberinfrastructure Consortium

Williams will lead program activities for the Minority Serving - Cyberinfrastructure Consortium's National Science Foundation-funded Cyberinfrastructure Center of Excellence Pilot in partnership with Internet2.

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Internet2

Mar 14, 2022, 09:05 ET

WASHINGTON, March 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lawrence Williams has joined Internet2 as a new program director in support of the Minority Serving - Cyberinfrastructure Consortium (MS-CC). His appointment began on Feb. 28.

Williams will work closely with Internet2 and MS-CC leadership to support cyberinfrastructure programs and services for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and tribal colleges and universities (TCUs). Specifically, he will lead activities to develop programs and achieve deliverables as outlined in the National Science Foundation's Cyberinfrastructure Center of Excellence (CI CoE) Pilot program grant (award number: 2137123).

"As a graduate of Hampton University, I am truly excited about the opportunity to serve in a position where I can use my experience to give back to HBCUs and historically underserved institutions of higher education. It is an honor and a privilege to serve in a position that combines my passion for cybersecurity and giving back," Williams said. "There is a growing cybersecurity talent gap across our nation, and it is even more apparent in underserved communities. While serving as the director of the MS-CC, I will do everything I can to help close that gap and assist in the development of the cyber workforce in underserved communities."

"We are delighted to have Lawrence on our team and extremely pleased that he decided to join our efforts working with HBCUs and TCUs on their cyberinfrastructure needs," said Deborah Dent, chief information officer at Jackson State University and co-principal investigator on the grant. "Lawrence is a collaborative and accomplished leader who brings technical expertise, a passion for cybersecurity, and energy to this role. He will be an invaluable addition to Internet2, the MS-CC, and the entire cyberinfrastructure community."

Williams is a U.S. Army veteran who brings over 20 years of experience overseeing cybersecurity-focused IT projects, including 15 years working with the Department of Defense. Most recently Williams worked as a senior program manager for Technical Consulting Group where he supported program requirements for minority serving institutions that brought cyber workforce development to underserved communities.

"I am thrilled to welcome Lawrence to Internet2, where he will be working in close partnership with our colleagues from the MS-CC, to support our joint effort in providing researchers, professional staff, and students from HBCUs and TCUs with programs and services that address their cyberinfrastructure needs," said Ana Hunsinger, vice president of community engagement at Internet2 and the grant's principal investigator. "Lawrence is passionate about developing solutions and solving operational and technical problems, and brings a wealth of experience managing IT projects and leading teams to drive forward progress to his new role."

Williams holds a bachelor's degree in marketing from Hampton University and a master's degree in information management from Syracuse University. He also holds numerous professional certifications in information technology and security, and has received training from the Department of the Army's Cyber Center of Excellence as an information systems security manager.

About Minority Serving-Cyberinfrastructure Consortium
MS-CC envisions a transformational partnership to promote advanced cyberinfrastructure (CI) capabilities on HBCU, HSI, TCU, and MSI campuses, with data; research computing; teaching; curriculum development and implementation; collaboration; and capacity-building connections among institutions. The consortium emerged from a National Science Foundation-funded pilot project that was awarded through Clemson University: NSF OAC #1659297 "CC* Cyber Team: Cyberinfrastructure Empowerment for Diverse Research, Scholarship, and Workforce Development (CI Empower)."

Discussions that emerged among South Carolina State, Claflin, Jackson State, and Morgan State Universities from workshops supported by the CI Empower grant made clear to the participants that they all shared common challenges on their campuses, and that by working together they can build a coalition to advocate for their cyberinfrastructure needs as a group. In June 2018, during a workshop at Georgia Tech, a working group of 20 participants helped create a chartering document for the MS-CC. For more information, visit www.ms-cc.org.

About Internet2
Internet2® is a non-profit, member-driven advanced technology community founded by the nation's leading higher education institutions in 1996. Internet2 serves 323 U.S. universities, 58 government agencies, 46 regional and state education networks and through them supports more than 80,000 community anchor institutions, over 1,000 InCommon participants, and 56 leading corporations working with our community, and 70 national research and education network operators that represent more than 100 countries.

Internet2 delivers a diverse portfolio of technology solutions that leverages, integrates, and amplifies the strengths of its members and helps support their educational, research and community service missions. Internet2's core infrastructure components include the nation's largest and fastest research and education network that was built to deliver advanced, customized services that are accessed and secured by the community-developed trust and identity framework.

Internet2 offices are located in Ann Arbor, Mich.; Denver, Colo.; Washington, D.C.; and West Hartford, Conn. For more information, visit https://internet2.edu or follow @Internet2 on Twitter.

SOURCE Internet2