Clemson’s McKenzie appointed to Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals board

CLEMSON, SC – Clemson University Chief Information Security Officer Kevin McKenzie has been appointed to the International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals Strategic Advisory Board. He joins leaders from the cybersecurity industry in promoting academic and professional success of minority cybersecurity students and professionals.

Launched in 2014, the nonprofit consortium offers its members mentoring opportunities, professional development and vast networking resources to help bridge the “great cyber divide” that results from the under-representation of minorities in the fast-growing field of cyber security.“Cybersecurity as an industry and profession continues to grow at an unprecedented pace,” McKenzie said. “Lack of minority engagement and representation across the industry should be alarming and actions must be taken now to help bridge that gap.”

“We need to be embracing the abilities of those from different backgrounds and cultures to solve very complex problems and to secure our computing technologies and infrastructures,” McKenzie said. “As educators and practitioners, we must do everything that we can to encourage, mentor and foster the expansion of our field to underrepresented minorities in order to increase diversity.”

In conjunction with his duties on the board, McKenzie served on an academic panel at the National Town Hall Meeting on Minority Underrepresentation in Cybersecurity on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The inaugural meeting, hosted by U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas), brought together government officials with leaders from academia, federal agencies and the cybersecurity field to address the underrepresentation of minorities in cybersecurity. The meeting represented a partnership between the International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals and the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology.

In 2013 McKenzie was named the Information Security Executive of the Year for the Southeast and Information Security Executive of the Year for North America by the T.E.N. organization, and was the recipient of the America’s Information Security Leadership Award by the International Information System Security Certification Consortium (ISC)².

Employed in Clemson’s information technology division for 20 years, McKenzie heads the university’s Office of Information Security and Privacy as well as Customer Relations and Learning Technologies. He also is a research professor in the Holcombe Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.