University of Texas at Dallas: Computer Science Professors Make UTD History as New IEEE Fellows
Two University of Texas at Dallas computer science professors were elected fellows of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world’s largest professional association for the advancement of technology.
Dr. Murat Kantarcioglu
Dr. Murat Kantarcioglu, Ashbel Smith Professor of computer science, and Dr. Latifur Khan, professor of computer science, are the first computer science professors in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science to be elected IEEE fellows while serving as faculty members at UT Dallas. Two of their colleagues in the Department of Computer Science were named fellows before joining the University’s faculty.
An expert in data security and privacy, Kantarcioglu is frequently interviewed by local and national media on cybersecurity issues. The professor, who joined UT Dallas in 2005 after earning his PhD from Purdue University, researches the integration of cybersecurity, data science and blockchains for creating technologies that can efficiently and securely process and share data.
Kantarcioglu’s work has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), the Office of Naval Research, the National Security Agency (NSA) and the National Institutes of Health.
“Since data is now widely recognized as the new oil for our digital economy, addressing the emerging challenges in data privacy, fairness and security is critical for our society,” Kantarcioglu said. “To address these challenges, I have worked on a broad range of collaborative research projects, aiming to ensure secure and privacy-preserving data storage, querying, sharing and analysis by transcending the conventional disciplinary boundaries and advancing new synergistic initiatives in data science and cybersecurity. I am glad that my contributions in these areas are recognized with IEEE fellowship.”
“I have seen both Latifur and Murat develop into world-class researchers during their time at UTD and knew it was only a matter of time until they became IEEE fellows.”
Dr. Ovidiu Daescu, interim department head and professor of computer science
Khan, a data science expert who joined UT Dallas in 2000 after earning his PhD from the University of Southern California, has led pioneering research on big stream data analytics, which involves large, continuous streams of data; semantic-aware big data management; and data mining/machine learning in cybersecurity. Khan’s research has been supported by the AFOSR, the U.S. Army, the Department of Defense, NASA, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the NSF, the NSA, the U.S. Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology, an IBM Faculty Award (Research) and UT Southwestern Medical Center.
Dr. Latifur Khan
“I am very happy that an important professional organization recognized my research work. I am greatly honored to have received this prestigious and selective recognition,” Khan said. “I am thankful to UT Dallas for giving me an opportunity to work not only independently but also for providing an environment to conduct interdisciplinary work. Finally, I have been fortunate enough to work with outstanding PhD students as well as some of the smartest researchers in the world at institutions including the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center and NASA.”
Dr. Ovidiu Daescu, interim department head and professor of computer science, said he is happy to see two faculty members who started their academic careers at UT Dallas receive one of the IEEE’s most prestigious honors, which he called “an outright recognition that projects not only on the awardees but also on the department as a whole.”
“I have seen both Latifur and Murat develop into world-class researchers during their time at UTD and knew it was only a matter of time until they became IEEE fellows. I anticipate other computer science faculty members will follow closely in their footsteps,” said Daescu, who joined the University in 2000.
IEEE has 400,000 members in 160 countries. The rank of fellow — the highest grade of membership — is conferred by the organization’s board of directors upon individuals with an outstanding record of accomplishments in any IEEE field.