Program Directors
* CAE Person of Contact
Shankar Banik
Shankar Banik is a Professor and Graduate Program Director of Computer Science, and Co-director for Center for Cyber, Intelligence and Security Studies at The Citadel. He received B.Tech. (Hons.) degree in Computer science and Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, in 1997 and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from University of Oklahoma in 2001 and 2006, respectively.
Dr. Banik has been leading cybersecurity education and research programs at The Citadel since 2011. He was instrumental in designing the minor in cybersecurity for undergraduate program at The Citadel and cybersecurity specialization for M.S. in Computer Science, and graduate certificate program in cybersecurity for the joint graduate program offered by The Citadel and College of Charleston. He has designed and taught cybersecurity courses for introductory and advanced levels both for undergraduate and graduate programs. Dr. Banik is the Program Director for The Citadel’s designation of Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education from National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security.
Dr. Banik’s research interests include network security, multicast protocols, overlay networks, and cybersecurity education. He has published numerous research papers on computer networks and security in journals and conference proceedings. He has served as a research mentor for undergraduate and graduate students in several research projects in computer science and cybersecurity which has resulted in numerous peer-reviewed publications. He is the student advisor for The Citadel ACM Club and The Citadel Cybersecurity Club. He was the Principal Investigator for the GenCyber Grant “CyberCitadel” awarded by National Security Agency and National Science Foundation in 2016 for organizing a summer workshop on cybersecurity at The Citadel for Middle/High School Teachers.
Dr. Banik received The Citadel Graduate College Faculty Award for Outstanding Contributions in 2014, Award of Recognition from The Citadel Board of Visitors in 2016, Early Career Award from Citadel Academy of Science and Mathematics in 2017, and Citadel Faculty Excellence Award in Service in 2017.
Dr. Larry Valero
Dr. Larry Valero (Ph.D. Cambridge, M.A. King’s College London, B.A. UCLA) is the Department Head and Associate Professor of Intelligence and Security Studies at The Citadel – The Military College of South Carolina. He served as the President of the International Association for Intelligence Education from 2014-2019.
Dr. Valero’s research and teaching interests focus upon U.S. intelligence and national security, strategy, and modern warfare. Dr. Valero has published articles in Cryptologic Quarterly, the International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, Intelligence and National Security, and Studies in Intelligence. He was previously Scholar in Residence at the National Security Agency, Ft. Meade, Maryland and served on the faculty of the Department of International Security and Military Studies at the U.S. Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. He was honored with the 2011 Outstanding Instructor Award by the International Association for Intelligence Education. Dr. Valero serves currently as an American Council on Education faculty evaluator for military programs in the field of intelligence studies.