Build a community within George Mason University that promotes women’s education, participation, and leadership in the field of cybersecurity. They WiCyS Student Chapter shall be familiar with the and abide by the Academic Institution’s student organization bylaws, policies, and procedures.

“Recruit, retain and advance women in cybersecurity to build a robust cybersecurity workforce.”

Cybersecurity Engineering student, University Scholar, and WiCyS student chapter president at GMU. I’m passionate about developing innovative security solutions and researching emerging cyber threats.

Proven through my personal projects and academic work, I’m skilled in languages like Python, C, and JavaScript, and applications like Wireshark and Splunk. Always looking for an opportunity to make a positive impact.

Source: LinkedIn

Liza Wilson Durant serves as the associate provost for strategic initiatives and community engagement at George Mason University and professor and associate dean for strategic initiatives and community engagement in the College of Engineering and Computing.

She works to build meaningful partnerships across the university with external corporate, government, academic, non-profit, and global entities to support the mission of Mason’s strategic objectives.

Prior to her appointment as associate provost, she served as chair of the Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering, where she has been a faculty member since 2010.

She received her BS and MS degrees from Cornell University and Stanford University respectively, and her Ph.D. in environmental engineering from the Johns Hopkins University.

Shawn Purvis serves as President and CEO of Sabel Systems, part of the Sagewind Capital Portfolio. As CEO of Sabel Systems, Ms. Purvis is responsible for all aspects of Sabel’s growth, M&A, product development and people strategy. Sabel is a leading provider of digital engineering, acquisition, manufacturing, supply chain and logistics solutions.  Shawn has recently been named as a member of the George Mason University Board of Visitors through June 30, 2029.

Over the course of Shawn’s 30 years of P&L responsibilities, she has led billion dollar organizations in the areas of defense, intelligence and cyber security technical solutions in support of the warfighter and intelligence customers both domestically and globally. Ms. Purvis has in-depth skills in driving strategy, policy, corporate strategic campaigns and financial/non-financial goals across the company. She actively participates in corporate governance in areas of risks, benefits, cyber and policies and engagements with the Board of Directors. She has a passion for customer service and delivery in support of our nation’s most critical missions.

As director of the first-of-its-kind BS in cyber-security engineering program at Mason, Peggy Brouse is passionate about building a new breed of cyber-security professional. As the nature of cyber threats has grown, the demand for timely response and effective action has built the groundwork for a discipline of anticipatory action and security design. The future of cyber-resilience relies on products designed to resist cyber-attack. Engineers who graduate from Mason’s cyber-security will be prepared to work on teams that develop new technologies designed to safeguard vital systems and data. Brouse’s career in researching requirements engineering, decision support, and process improvement, along with her expertise in engineering education has uniquely equipped her to direct the course of this pioneer program.

Research Interests

Systems Requirements

Degrees

• PhD, Information Technology, George Mason University
• BS, Computer Science, American University
• MBA, Marymount University
• BA, Creative Writing, California State University, Long Beach

Source: Web page

A naval officer and military pilot from 1988-1999, Cummings was one of the U.S. Navy’s first female fighter pilots. She is now the director of Mason’s Autonomy and Robotics Center (MARC) and a professor at George Mason University. She holds faculty appointments in the Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Computer Science departments. She is an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Fellow and recently served as the senior safety advisor to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Cummings received her BS in Mathematics from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1988, her MS in Space Systems Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1994, and her PhD in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2004.

Source: GMU webpage

I’m Zeinab Shariff, a Cybersecurity Engineering student with a strong interest in building secure, practical, and human-centered cyber solutions. I care deeply about making cybersecurity more approachable, especially for students and early-career professionals navigating the field.

At onAir, I serve as a Cyber Hub Curator, where I help curate content, support community engagement, and contribute to discussions that make cybersecurity easier to understand and more relevant to real-world problems. My focus is on fostering a space where people can learn, ask questions, and grow together in a field that can often feel overwhelming or inaccessible.

I’m really glad you’re here, and I hope this hub helps you learn something new and useful along the way:)

Hi there! My name is Saanvi and I am currently a Junior majoring in computer science at George Mason University. I am also Aircasting Director for the Cyber onAir network of hubs. The top hub is at cyber.onair.cc.

I am passionate about exploring the intersection of technology, ethics, and societal impact. My work spans research in AI ethics, responsible AI governance, and the practical applications of machine learning, all grounded in a commitment to leveraging technology for humanity’s highest needs.

My current areas of focus are on:
– preparing for the CompTIA Security+
– researching and studying Gen AI risk mitigations as well as exploring the intersection between AI and Cybersecurity (Galexor AI)
– building a GRC portfolio: security fundamentals, CIA triad, NIST CSF basics, policy writing, risk register basics, Excel/Google Sheets for tracking, familiarity with regulations (starting with HIPAA or SOC 2)
– upskilling on Linux and programming.

My dream job involves doing what AI cannot — that is provide context, judgement, and ethical leadership.

Always eager to connect with professionals, collaborators, and innovators who share a vision for responsible technological advancement!

Katie Moussouris founded Luta Security in 2016 fresh off the heels of launching Hack the Pentagon, the first ever bug bounty of the US government. She named her company after the local nickname of the CHamoru island of Rota, where her mother was born in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a US Territory.

Katie was born and raised in Boston, MA and was encouraged by her biochemist mother to study science. Her father was a Greek immigrant jeweler who taught her valuable lessons about running a bootstrapped profitable business. Katie fosters a company culture of equity and healthy boundaries, with all Luta Security FTEs paid for full time work with a 32-hour 4-day work week. She has grown Luta Security proving that businesses can be profitable by putting people first.

Source: Luta webpage

Fatima Majid is a senior majoring in cybersecurity at George Mason University.