Federal Cyber Service Academy Creates Pipeline of Cyber Professionals To Protect Our National Security

When U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand toured Pace University’s Cyber Range, she greeted each student with a handshake and call to action in safeguarding our national security: “You’re learning something very important for our country.”

The senator from New York – joined by lawmakers, students, university leadership, and business leaders – was in Pleasantville on November 15, 2024 to see first-hand Pace’s state-of-the-art computer simulation laboratory that teaches students to be on the front-lines of defending against as cyber-attack.

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The war-roomlike atmosphere provides an immersive learning experience that is much like they would be confronted with if they were defending against hackers at a financial institution, health care facility, or government agency.

They are learning about different scenarios under fire and in real time.

The tour comes as Senator Gillibrand is promoting Cyber Service Academy scholarships, a program created through her work on the Senate Armed Services Committee as a means of developing a pipeline for a highly trained cyber workforce.

There are nearly 30,000 unfilled DoD cyber positions, the senator said, and the scholarships are a way of addressing the need.

“Thousands of unfilled DoD cyber positions leave our country with a severe shortage of personnel needed to protect the United States from adversaries like Russia,” said Senator Gillibrand. “I developed the Cyber Service Academy scholarship program to help meet these needs and give our youth a path to good-paying jobs in government. This program will create a pipeline for a talented, highly trained cyber workforce, granting one year of free college for every year of subsequent public service. Pace University is a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity, and I encourage students to apply, earn free tuition, and serve our great nation.”

As part of the campus visit, Senator Gillibrand – along with New York State Assemblymember MaryJane Shimsky, Pace President Marvin Krislov, Interim Seidenberg Dean Li-Chiou Chen, business leaders, and others – encouraged students to apply to the DoD Cyber Service Academy scholarship program, which provides full college tuition in return for public service in the Department of Defense (DoD) or the Intelligence Community (IC). Successful applicants will serve one year in the DoD or the IC as a civilian employee for each year of their scholarship.

Pace University is one of the New York institutions that qualify to host students through the program because of their designations as National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity.

The visit comes as Pace is now accepting applications for its new BS in cybersecurity starting in Fall 2025.

For Junior information technology student Steven Schiavone, captain of Pace University's Northeast Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition team, the meeting was both inspiring and affirming.

"Meeting Senator Gillibrand and showcasing the work we do in the Cyber Range was an incredible experience," Schiavone said. "Seidenberg has provided me with amazing opportunities, including the CyberCorps Scholarship for Service (SFS). I’m excited to explore the possibility of a future career in the federal government."

The program and its focus on experiential learning is a reason why Brian O'Hanlon ’26 transferred to Pace: "The Cyber Range provides hands-on experience through real-life scenarios," he said. "It’s incredible to have so many opportunities that prepare you for the real world."

The program, scholarships, and partnerships with the federal government align with the university’s strength and mission of creating opportunities for students, said President Krislov.

“Cyberattacks are growing in size and scope, posing a serious threat to the U.S. economy and critical infrastructure. That’s why recruiting and training the next generation of cybersecurity professionals is vital,” said President Krislov. “Pace is proud to partner with Senator Gillibrand and the federal government on the Cyber Service Academy program, which creates opportunities for our students while strengthening the nation’s cybersecurity workforce.”

The Cyber Service Academy scholarship program includes:

1. A scholarship covering the full cost of tuition, select books and fees, a stipend for room and board, purchase of a laptop, and more;
2. Areas of study including cybersecurity, cyber operations, digital and multimedia forensics, computer crime investigations, and more;
3. A service commitment for a period equivalent to the length of a recipient’s scholarship that starts after graduation;
4. Opportunities to serve throughout the DoD and the Intelligence Community.

The Seidenberg School’s very own professor, Dr. Namchul Shin, recently traveled to two prestigious academic events in Seoul, South Korea, where he presented his research on sustainability reporting in the coal mining industry. The two conferences, held at Seoul National University and Yonsei University respectively, provided platforms for Professor Shin to share insights into how technology can enhance corporate accountability for biodiversity conservation.

At the KrAIS Summer Workshop conference at Seoul National University and a seminar at Yonsei University, Professor Shin presented his work titled "Assessing Biodiversity Reporting in the Coal Mining Industry: Leveraging Large Language Models." The workshop was sponsored by the Korean Management Information Society (KMIS), KrAIS (the Korean Chapter of the Association for Information Systems), and Seoul National University's Business School, and brought together leading experts to discuss advancements in information systems and their application to global challenges.

Highlighting the importance of his research, Professor Shin noted that even though “the UN called on all UN member nations to tackle biodiversity loss, biodiversity continues to decrease. Businesses significantly impact biodiversity, and they are expected to be accountable for their actions. Through this research, we are investigating how transparently coal mining companies address biodiversity issues in their sustainability reports, considering that they are some of the biggest contributors to biodiversity loss.” Professor Shin and his team of collaborators are using cutting-edge tools like large language models (LLMs), and are validating the results with human experts in the field.

The study was inspired by his sabbatical collaboration at Technische Universität Dresden (TUD) in Germany, and it combines natural language processing (NLP) techniques with expert validation to automate the analysis of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) reports. Professor Shin shared that “a PhD student at TUD asked if NLP could help automate content analysis, and that conversation sparked my interest in applying LLMs to make the process more efficient, especially since I was already teaching NLP techniques at Pace.” He further added that “our experiments with GPT-4o are showing promising results in automating comprehension and analysis.”

Professor Shin’s findings are part of a broader initiative to investigate how industries, particularly coal mining, can align with global biodiversity conservation goals. Although still in progress, the research underscores the potential of how artificial intelligence, paired with human experience, can enhance transparency and accountability in corporate sustainability practices. This project also exemplifies Seidenberg and Pace’s emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration, bringing together computing, environmental science, and corporate ethics to leverage technology for global sustainability challenges.

Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and Science Michael Finewood, PhD, appeared on Fox Weather to discuss the environmental implications of New York’s drought.

On what we can expect going forward, he said, “We’re not really anticipating a lot of rain, so we’re still going to be dealing with these drought conditions probably at least for the near future. As you pointed out, it’s a historic drought right now. October was the driest month that we have on record I think since we’ve been taking records since the late 1800s. New York has declared a drought watch and New Jersey a drought warning. So, I think we should anticipate that these conditions will be hanging on for a little bit longer.”

When asked about the potential of future weather changes reversing the effects of the drought, he replied:

“Even if we have some rain, we are probably seven to ten inches behind where we should be at this point, so even just a little bit of rain in the coming future is probably not going to be enough to pull us out of this. Some of our reservoirs are at 50% capacity; our ground water levels are really low and they are continuing to drop. I don’t think it’s going be something like we are going to have a [rain] event and then be out of this drought. We should be anticipating, even with some wet weather events, that we will continue to be in this drought.”

He also spoke on the relation of climate change to this event.

“I’d have to be remiss if I didn’t make this connection to climate change. With higher temperatures along with increasingly extreme weather events like this drought, we should expect that, while in the past, they were much more rare, we should expect now that they are going to be much more frequent, happening much more regularly, in a way creating a new normal for us. So, even while we can look at the historic record, to try to make some judgment on what we can expect coming, there’s a lot of uncertainty because of the impacts of climate change.”

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While an undergraduate student at Marist College, Marco Caprioni ’25 enrolled in the Paralegal Certificate program offered at the school. “I was interested immediately,” said Marco. “There are so many fields of law you can pursue. I decided quickly that law school was definitely in my future.”

Initially, Marco pursued his law degree at Roger Williams, but quickly realized that he wanted to attend a New York area law school. “I felt that Haub Law offered so many unique opportunities to students and graduates. I was very eager to join the community.” Marco felt at home as soon as he began his studies at Haub Law. “I have had a great experience so far since transferring. The faculty, staff, and my classmates all really care about one another and are always available to offer mentorship and advice. In particular, Dean Jill Gross has always been there to help from an advisory role, and I was also fortunate to have great professors such as Adjunct Professor Breslow and Adjunct Professor Mamaysky.”

Marco’s Italian heritage is very important to him, along with a passion for sports, and he has become involved in both Haub Law’s Italian American Law Students’ Organization and the Sports, Entertainment, and Arts Law Society as a result. “Both organizations always have great guest speakers lined up and offer opportunities for networking and connecting.”

Post-graduation, Marco’s goal is to work in corporate compliance. This past summer, he completed an internship with Samsung and loved the experience. “I gained hands-on experience in such a fast paced and dynamic environment through contract review and ensuring compliant legal standards. Corporate Compliance can stem into a variety of different areas such as Tech/Data Privacy, Financial Compliance, Healthcare Compliance, and Sports/Gaming Law. Haub Law’s course and program offerings have allowed me to gain further insights into these and other fields.”

Over the course of this academic year, Marco looks forward to participating in the Fairbridge Investor Rights Clinic. “I am excited to learn and gain exposure in real world situations and help those who have been wronged in an investment context.” Importantly, Marco has said that he has learned a lot in his law school journey thus far. “Preparation is the key to success. If you give it your all everything will eventually fall into place. That has absolutely been true for me – from my transfer to Haub Law, to the experiences I have been afforded since.”

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The Sands College of Performing Arts community mourns the passing of Morgan Jenness, a cherished member of our adjunct faculty whose profound impact was deeply felt by students, faculty, staff, and the performing arts community. Morgan's contributions to Sands College extended beyond the classroom, touching the lives of all who had the privilege to learn from or work alongside them.

Morgan was a visionary artist, educator, and mentor who enriched our academic community with experience, insight, and passion. Before joining our faculty, Morgan's tenure at The Public Theater, under the leadership of both George C. Wolfe and Joseph Papp, marked a period of remarkable achievement. Morgan held pivotal roles as literary manager, Director of Play Development, and Associate Producer of the New York Shakespeare Festival, helping shape American theater's cultural landscape. Morgan also served as Associate Artistic Director at the New York Theatre Workshop and Associate Director at the Los Angeles Theater Center, bringing new projects to life and fostering the voices of emerging playwrights and artists.

Morgan's work extended far beyond these celebrated institutions. They collaborated with organizations such as the Young Playwrights Festival, the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Victory Gardens, Hartford Stage, and many others, working as a dramaturg, workshop director, and artistic consultant. As an advocate for new works, Morgan’s influence was felt across the country, including through their roles with the National Endowment for the Arts and NYSCA (New York State Council on the Arts), where they served on peer panels and as a site evaluator for nearly a decade.

Honored with numerous accolades throughout their career, Morgan received an Obie Award Special Citation for Longtime Support of Playwrights in 2003 and the prestigious G.E. Lessing Award for Career Achievement from the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas in 2015. They were also the recipient of a 2015 Doris Duke Impact Award, recognizing their enduring contributions to the arts.

For over a decade, Morgan’s warmth, intellectual rigor, and generosity of spirit deeply shaped the education of our students. Their passion for theater history, combined with a wealth of professional experience, fostered a classroom environment that was both inspiring and enlightening.

Our thoughts are with Morgan’s family, friends, and all who were touched by their brilliance and kindness. In memory of Morgan Jenness, we honor a life devoted to knowledge, creativity, and generosity, and we extend heartfelt gratitude for all they gave to our community. Morgan’s legacy will forever live on in the countless lives they touched.