October 2024
Cultivating Defense Leaders: Vanderbilt Launches Institute of National Security
In August, Paul Nakasone told attendees at “the world’s largest conference of hackers” that new strategies and ideas were necessary to combat the threat that cyberattacks pose to our national security.
“Our intelligence is really good,” said Nakasone, a retired four-star general and former U.S. Cyber Command and National Security Agency chief, as part of a keynote presentation at DEF CON 32. “But I would tell you—the bottom line is we’re not keeping up. We need a new strategy. And whether that’s being able to bring a larger force with greater partners, a larger force of technology, or a larger force with a larger private sector, we need it.”
Nakasone will have a chance to help develop the next generation of national security leaders who will help carry out that strategy, as the founding director of Vanderbilt University’s just-launched Institute of National Security.
Prioritizing cross-disciplinary education, with instruction from national security experts and Vanderbilt faculty, the Institute was created “to help the government and military combat evolving threats and develop the next generation of national security leaders, according to a Vanderbilt statement announcing the new initiative.
“Meeting today’s national security challenges will require a new spirit of radical collaboration,” Chancellor Daniel Diermeier said in the same statement.
“We need military officers that understand cyberspace and engineers that understand national security. We need interdisciplinary approaches that bring together diverse lenses of law, computer science and engineering. That’s precisely what we do at Vanderbilt.”
The institute will expand educational opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and professional students with coursework, degrees, internships, research, professional certifications and student immersion programs, according to the university, noting that the institute will emphasize the role of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and intelligence in accelerating strategic decision-making.
“With a culture of collaborating across disciplines to solve tough challenges, an ethos rooted in service and a long history of partnering with the defense and aerospace sector, Vanderbilt University and our institute are uniquely positioned to have a significant impact on protecting the United States and our military service people,” Nakasone said in a statement, “while we prepare the right type of leader for a new era of national security.”
18 October 2024
Category
HR News Article