Becky Bace In Memoriam
We are all deeply saddened by the passing of Becky Bace, a truly one-of-a-kind presence
in the international cybersecurity and venture capital communities. Her long career
in government, first with the NSA and later with Los Alamos National Lab, set the
stage for her transition to a sought-after venture consultant for cybersecurity startups
and technical VP of the Cyber Security Practice for In-Q-Tel. Here are at the University
of South Alabama School of Computing, we were fortunate to benefit from her encyclopedic
knowledge of her field as she served as Chief Strategist for the Center for Forensics,
Information Technology and Security.
Those of us who were fortunate to know Becky are well aware of her talent for making professional connections that frequently morphed into personal ones. Becky鈥檚 reach across the cybersecurity and venture capital worlds was due in large part to her network of friends and her savvy ability to build relationships. Mindful of her own experiences and challenges early in her career, she retained a lifelong commitment to encouraging young people and new practitioners in the computing and STEM fields.
One of the projects Becky was working on when she died was a National Science Foundation grant to create a cybersecurity technology transfer to practice ecosystem, a key component of which was pairing mentors with investigators beginning the tech transfer process. Becky was working with myself and Dr. Michael Chambers to make her mentoring vision a reality.
In honor of Becky, we plan to create the Becky Bace Mentoring Program as a way of continuing her legacy. We are reaching out to Becky鈥檚 friends and colleagues to offer this opportunity as a way to keep alive her belief in the value of mentoring as a career-building and life-building experience.
ACSA's top scholarship in the Scholarship for Women Studying Information Security (SWSIS.org) has been renamed as the Rebecca Gurley Bace Scholarship. Contributions to help support this scholarship are welcomed by sending a check (sorry, no online contributions) to:
Applied Computer Security Associates, Inc
2906 Covington Road
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Checks should be made payable to Applied Computer Security Associates, and note SWSIS Rebecca Gurley Bace Scholarship on the memo line. ACSA is a registered 501.3(c) non-profit organization.
You will hear from Michael shortly on additional details. You can provide assistance and choose your level of time commitment ranging from answering simple questions on a listserv up to being a paid consultant.
Your help in building this program for the National Science Foundation in Becky鈥檚 memory will be deeply appreciated.
Becky's Company Infidel.net
The Becky Bace Mentoring Program
Sincerely,
Dr. Alec Yasinsac
Professor and Dean
School of Computing