Dr. Bhavani Thuraisingham

Leadership Roles

Founding Executive Director of the Cyber Security Research and Education Institute (CSI)

Senior Strategist, Data Science and 
Cyber Security

Founders Chair in Engineering and 
Computer Science

Visiting Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Informatics, Kings College, University of London (2015–present)

Member of Academic Council at the University of Dschang in Cameroon

Cyber Security Policy Fellow at New America (2017-2018)

Member of the National Academy of Inventors®

Professional Accolades

D CEO Magazine 500 Most Influential Business Leaders in Texas (2021 and 2022)

Fellow of the Association for 
Computing Machinery

Fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics, U.K.

24 years of industry experience

130+ journal and 300+ conference papers

Over 120 panel presentations

16 books authored

7 U.S. Patents

Research Areas

Cybersecurity, applied data analytics

Cybersecurity Expert Honored for Leadership in Education, Mentorship

Dr. Bhavani Thuraisingham, Founders Chair in Engineering and Computer Science at The University of Texas at Dallas, will receive the 2023 the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Computer Society’s Taylor L. Booth Education Award for her leadership in cybersecurity education, data science education and mentorship of members of systemically marginalized groups.

IEEE will present the award Sept. 19 at its International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering in Bellingham, Washington. The award is one of several IEEE honors for Thuraisingham, who is an IEEE fellow and received the organization’s Edward J. McCluskey Technical Achievement Award in 1997 for her research in secure distributed data management.

“It is very gratifying to be recognized for contributing to cybersecurity and data science education as well as working with the systemically marginalized communities,” Thuraisingham said. “I am very honored to receive the Taylor L. Booth Education Award for my work over 42 years including in the commercial industry, a federal research lab, U.S. government and academia.”

Thuraisingham, who joined the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at The University of Texas at Dallas in 2004, is a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the British Computer Society and the National Academy of Inventors. She has received numerous professional awards for research innovation, leadership and technical achievement.

Thuraisingham has educated a global community including students in the U.S. and at the University of Dschang in Cameroon, members of federal agencies and industry contractors and the general public. Thuraisingham has graduated 22 PhD students at UT Dallas — 11 of them women — including students from underserved communities. She is particularly committed to mentoring women in STEM through organizations including Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) and many more.

“Dr. Thuraisingham, an internationally recognized cybersecurity expert who has received numerous honors from ACM, IEEE and other organizations for her outstanding research work, is also a highly motivated and enthusiastic educator committed to inspiring and mentoring students at all levels, from K-12 to PhD,” said Dr. Ovidiu Daescu, holder of the Jonsson School Chair and professor and department head of computer science.

“For Outstanding Leadership in Cyber Security Education and Data Science Education as well as Mentorship of Members of 
Systemically Marginalized Groups.”

2023 IEEE Computer Society Taylor L. Booth Education Award Citation for Bhavani Thuraisingham

Thuraisingham, who served as founding executive director and is current senior strategist of the Cyber Security Research and Education Institute, and her research team pioneered machine learning algorithms for malware analysis and insider threat detection and developed layered frameworks to ensure a secure cloud. She has published more than 130 journal articles, 300 conference papers and 16 books and has delivered more than 200 keynote and featured talks including a featured address at the Women in Data Science Conference (WiDS) in 2018. She holds seven U.S. patents.

Prior to her career as a tenured professor, Thuraisingham had an extensive career in industry for 24 years at companies among them were Honeywell International Inc.; Control Data Corp, The MITRE Corporation and the National Science Foundation on assignment from MITRE. She also served as a consultant to the National Security Agency from 1991-1997 and to the U.S. Department of the Treasury since 1999.

Thuraisingham holds a BSc in mathematics and physics from the University of Peradeniya (formerly the University of Sri Lanka), an MSc in computer science from the University of Bristol, U.K. and a PhD in the theory of computation from the University of Wales, U.K.