William H. Robinson Named GTRI Deputy Director of Research for ICSD

The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is pleased to announce that our search for the new GTRI Deputy Director for Research for the Information and Cyber Sciences Directorate (ICSD) is complete. On April 18, William H. Robinson, Ph.D., will assume the role of ICSD Director and begin leading two of GTRI’s labs: the Information and Communications Laboratory (ICL) and Cybersecurity, Information Protection, and Hardware Evaluation Research (CIPHER) Lab. William will manage research portfolios that span GTRI, and he will also join the executive council, which strategically guides GTRI.

Before joining GTRI, William served as Professor of Electrical Engineering and the Vice Provost for Academic Advancement at Vanderbilt University. There, he led the Security and Fault Tolerance Research Group, whose mission is to design, model, verify, and implement robust computing systems that positively benefit stakeholders with consumer, defense, industrial, and medical applications. He also co-led the Explorations in Diversifying Engineering Faculty Initiative (EDEFI). That initiative investigates the institutional, technical, social, and cultural factors that affect decision-making, career choices, and career satisfaction for doctoral students, doctoral candidates, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty from engineering and computing who have been marginalized by race and/or gender.

William has an expansive portfolio of research, publications, scholarly work, presentations, and awards. While at Vanderbilt University, he was involved in research for sponsors including the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). His research related to national security includes: (1) radiation-hardened electronics for satellite and missile systems, (2) hardware trust and assurance for integrated circuits and third-party intellectual property, (3) cyber security with intrusion detection systems, and (4) resilience for unmanned aerial systems and mobile ad hoc networks. In 2015 and in 2016, William served as the General Chair for the IEEE International Symposium on Hardware‑Oriented Security and Trust (HOST), which convenes a robust community of researchers from academia, government, and industry.

William holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) as well as a M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Georgia Tech.

A national search firm provided a diverse selection of internal and external candidates, and GTRI’s search committee worked diligently to find the best candidate to fill this pivotal role. Additionally, representatives from GTRI’s Talent Management Department, Tineke Battle and Kim Campbell, oversaw the entire search process. The search committee contained voices from across GTRI and Georgia Tech:  

• Keith McBride (GTRI Committee Chair)                                        
• Julia Kubanek (EVPR)
• Jeff Sitterle (GTRI)
• Alexa Harter (GTRI)
• Tommer Ender (GTRI)
• Sheila Isbell (GTRI)
• Clayton Kerce (GTRI)
• Ken Allen (GTRI) 
• Kennedy Oyoo (GTRI)
• Gary LaRue (GTRI)
• Brendan Saltaformaggio (ECE)
• Diane Barney (OSP)

Don Davis served as the interim Deputy Director for Research for the Information and Cyber Sciences Directorate from May 2021 – April 2022. Upon William’s arrival, Don will focus on his role leading the Electronics, Optics, Systems Directorate (EOSD).