Marshall University to Host New National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence in West Virginia

Marshall University’s Institute of Cyber Security in Huntington, West Virginia, will be home to the National Center of Excellence for Cybersecurity in Critical Infrastructure, with the groundbreaking ceremony completed for the facility on Friday.

Lt. Gen. Robert Skinner, commander of the U.S. Cyber Command’s Joint Force Headquarters-Department of Defense Information Network, one of the center’s partners, reiterated commitment to the NCOE and its counterpart at the West Virginia University in Morgantown. 

According to Skinner, a 2024 Wash100 Award winner and former Potomac Officers Club speaker, the collaboration offers fresh and diverse perspectives for public, private and academic initiatives, DVIDS reported.

Skinner, also head of the Defense Information Systems Agency, added that the academic partnership will contribute to shaping the Department of Defense’s present and future cyber workforce through collaboration in training and research.

Marshall University President Brad Smith underscored the center’s role in cyber workforce development and thanked the JFHQ-DODIN’s contribution to crafting the university’s cyber curriculum. 

In October 2023, the National Security Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency designated Marshall University as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education, a title extending through 2028.