HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall University’s new and very first cyber security director says with his over 30 years of experience in the field, he’s ready to help make Marshall one of the leading edge schools in the country for education in protecting computer security and data technology.
Dr. Henry Collier
After Dr. Henry Collier was named as the first Executive Director of the Institute for Cyber Security at Marshall in April, he officially began in the position Monday. He said he’s very excited for the new opportunity.
“There’s a lot of forward motion on where we want to go, things that have already been previously built as they were designing and developing the ICS initially, and I’m excited with the idea of taking it into the next level,” Collier told MetroNews.
Collier comes to Marshall from his role as director of technology programs at Norwich University’s College of Graduate and Continuing Studies in Vermont.
Prior to that, Collier served as the program director for Computer Technology and Cybersecurity & Healthcare IT at River Valley Community College in New Hampshire. There he rejuvenated the Cisco Networking Academy and managed a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education grant to develop the cybersecurity & healthcare IT program at the institution.
In addition, Collier has a Ph.D. in engineering with a concentration in security form the University of Colorado as well as a master’s, bachelor’s and associate’s degree in a technology emphasis. He also is a U.S. Army veteran and currently holds the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 3 in the Army Reserves with 27 years of service.
Collier said he plans to work with the U.S. Cyber Command while at Marshall, one of the country’s eleven unified combatant commands of the U.S. Department of Defense which unifies the direction of cyberspace operations.
He said with this connection and connections from other cyber security entities, there are a lot of opportunities for Marshall to get on the path of becoming the leading edge in the industry.
“The connection with Cyber Command is going to allow us to do things that other universities may not be able to, and I think that’s going to put us in line with competing with institutions like MIT or Carnegie Mellon when it comes to status as a premier institute,” he said.
Marshall is now the second college institution of its kind to build a Cyber Security Center, which they plan to start construction on next month after state lawmakers approved funding for the center last year.
They are projecting the construction to take about two years to complete.
Collier said there’s currently a shortage of 2.1 million jobs needing to be filled in the cyber security industry, and as they move forward and continue to build up the program at Marshall, he said they will be creating a pipeline to help fill those positions.
He said the new center will play a pivotal role in the advancement of cyber security education as it will house all of the appropriate and up-to-date classroom labs and resources specifically related to the subject for students to utilize.
“One of the most frustrating things as an educator has always been that the technology that I have is ten years out of date and I’m not teaching on the most current technology which means I’m not really preparing my students the best that I can, so having a new institute, having a new building, that’s going to give us those things that we need to make sure students are successful,” said Collier.
Collier said the new center will also allow them to be more adaptable regarding the ongoing trends seen within the cyber security industry.
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