“The Strategic Imperative for Cyber Defense”
Lt. Gen. Robert J. Elder, Jr.
Commander, 8th Air Force; Air Combat Command; and
Joint Functional Component Commander for Space and Global Strike, U.S. Strategic Command
Tenth Annual Lynford Lecture
Remarks by Jeffrey H. Lynford and John Sexton
November 30, 2007
Presidents Hultin and Sexton, General Elder, Council Member de Blasio, fellow trustees, faculty,
students and guests:
IMAS was established at Poly in 1997 by Professors Gregory and David Chudnovsky, the world-renowned mathematicians. Over the last decade, the Chudnovskys have identified important
emerging concepts and invited speakers to our campus to explain these new ideas to our community, often before they became widely known or accepted. As a result, POLY has hosted leading theorists and practitioners in various fields , including computer engineering and the applied sciences.
For example, in 1999, Dr. J. Craig Venter spoke to us less than six months before he announced to the world his successful decoding of the human genome and in 2002, Professor Robert Mundell, Nobel Laureate in Economics and "father" of the European Monetary Unit, appeared here – just as the Euro began to attain importance in the world currency markets.
This year, to help celebrate the 10th anniversary of our lecture series, we are pleased to welcome
Lt. General Robert J. Elder, Jr., Commander of the 8th Air Force, who will address us on "The
Strategic Imperative for Cyber Defense." Also with us this afternoon – to introduce our featured
lecturer – is Dr. John Edward Sexton, 15th President of New York University.
General Elder's appearance here today is very timely for two reasons:
- First, on November 3rd, the Secretary of the Air Force announced that under the leadership of General Elder, the 8th Air Force has become the new Air Force Cyberspace Command. This will be the General's first university public speaking appearance since receiving his new appointment. Today we expect the General to explain to us the importance for the nation of his new role and responsibilities.
- Second, as many of you know, we are in the midst of Poly's Fourth Annual Cyber Security Awareness Week, which includes our own unique, and hotly contested, "Battles for the Cyber World." General Elder and President Sexton, each year Poly invites student teams from universities and high schools to compete in eight contest categories. Last year, nearly 250 students from 28 tri-state area universities participated, and our events will culminate next week.
We at Poly are proud of our Computer and Information Sciences Program and ISIS, our vibrant Information Systems and Internet Security Laboratory, which provides multidisciplinary research and education in areas of information security. Current areas of research include network security, digital forensics, and watermarking hardware for secure systems and steganography.
Also, Poly has been designated by the NSA as a Center of Excellence in Information Assurance Education. We currently offer a NSF Federal Cyber Security scholarship to students who wish to pursue advanced studies in this rapidly evolving field. By a show of hands, how many of those of you in the audience participate in one of Poly's programs? Possibly one of theses students will ultimately have an important assignment within General Elder's new Cyberspace Command.
"What is Cyberspace?" many of you may ask. A technical definition suggests it is the electromagnetic domain that provides our national civilian and military leaders with timely, trustworthy, actionable, and decision-quality data. General Elder will tell us about what it means in greater detail shortly. Now I want to share dome observations about our two guests here today.
One is a professional educator and the other is a professional soldier. Each – after a long and individually arduous journey – has reached the respective pinnacle of his chosen career. President Sexton began by studying religion and law, was selected as Law Clerk to Chief Justice Warren Burger of the U.S. Supreme Court, and went on to become the Dean of NYU' s prestigious Law School.
General Elder began by studying engineering, trained as an Air Force pilot, assumed many commands, and has been the recipient of numerous awards and decorations – including the Legion of Merit, with oak leaf cluster, and the Bronze Star Medal.
To paraphrase the poet, Robert Frost, for each man "two roads diverged in a wood, and each has taken the one less traveled by...and that has made all the difference."
But what has caused the intersection of their paths and lives here today? A personal performance and a venue; individual dedication leading to demonstrated achievement.
For without these demonstrated achievements, each would not be the leader he has become, or the individual from whom we seek the wisdom and guidance we do – and without Poly continuing to be the catalyzing venue it is, we would not have this forum, to meet, listen, discuss, debate, and hopefully learn.
Therefore, in closing, let us recognize and enjoy this serendipitously historic gathering of talented leaders and their important ideas. My wife, Tondra, and I present them to you with unalloyed enthusiasm.