Dr. Dena Haritos Tsamitis Secures $1 Million NSF Award for CyberCorps Scholarship for Service Program
By Evan Lybrand
Media InquiriesCarnegie Mellon University (CMU) is proud to announce a $1 million renewal of the National Science Foundation (NSF) CyberCorps® Scholarship for Service (SFS) program. Led by principal investigator and INI Director Dr. Dena Haritos Tsamitis, the SFS program at CMU (SFS@CMU) supports a select cohort of graduate security students to prepare for careers in federal service.
“The renewal of SFS@CMU is a testament to the strength of our security curriculum, our faculty and our outstanding alumni who embody the excellence that this program demands,” said Dr. Haritos Tsamitis, who has directed the program for over two decades. “With the many challenges currently facing academic institutions, we take this investment in our students seriously and look forward to welcoming a new cohort of SFS@CMU scholars.”
Dr. Haritos Tsamitis presents Elizabeth Schweinsberg at the SFS Hall of Fame 2025 Ceremony. Photo: Hanan Hibshi.
The need for cybersecurity experts is on the rise, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a growth rate of 29% projected over the next decade. As it has since 2001, CMU continues to ensure the next generation of cybersecurity professionals is prepared for the evolving challenges of the field.
Two INI graduate degrees have been certified as eligible under the SFS program: the nationally recognized M.S. in Information Security (MSIS) and the innovative M.S. in Artificial Intelligence Engineering - Information Security (MSAIE-IS). SFS@CMU provides a full-tuition scholarship and stipend for living expenses for select students pursuing these degrees.
After graduation, SFS alumni complete government service in a cybersecurity role that equals the duration of their scholarship. Many SFS@CMU alumni continue in federal service beyond the minimum requirement, building distinctive careers in security across the federal executive branch.
“Carnegie Mellon is incredibly proud of the longstanding success of INI and Dr. Haritos Tsamitis in this fellowship program,” said James H. Garrett Jr., CMU Provost and Chief Academic Officer. “It is truly wonderful to see how this exceptional group of graduates has contributed to government service through their academic achievements and practical experience in the field.”
Information Networking Institute graduates during the 2025 Diploma Ceremony. Photo: Alex Jones.
Carnegie Mellon was part of the inaugural class to be awarded the competitive SFS grant in 2001. That same year, the MSIS program was created in response to the critical need for expert cybersecurity professionals in the wake of 9/11. It is one of the first graduate-level degree programs in the United States dedicated to information security. As of this year, over 260 SFS@CMU alumni have graduated and gone on to meaningful careers in federal service.
In 2024, Dr. Haritos Tsamitis successfully nominated M.S. in Information Networking (MSIN) alum Samuel Edoho-Eket for the SFS Hall of Fame for his federal service at the Department of Defense (DoD). Edoho-Eket has since founded PrismSix Technologies, an information technology consulting company that works with several federal agencies.
The following year, a second INI alum received the honor via Dr. Haritos Tsamitis’s nomination. Elizabeth Schweinsberg, a graduate of the M.S. in Information Technology and Management (now the MSIS), was inducted in 2025. Schweinsberg’s career has spanned federal service — including at the National Security Agency and United States Digital Service — and industry leadership at Google and Facebook (now Meta). Currently, she is a Senior Technical Advisor to the Chief Information Security Officer at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Elizabeth Schweinsberg (right) and Samuel Edoho-Eket giving the keynote speech during the INI Diploma Ceremony in 2025 and 2024, respectively.
CMU holds three designations from the National Center for Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C): Cyber Research, Cyber Operations and Cyber Defense. The latter two certify the INI’s MSIS and allow CMU to participate in competitive federal scholarship programs like SFS@CMU and Department of Defense Cyber Scholarship Academy (DoD CSA). The CAE designations Membership in the CAE community and these designations also enable CMU to engage in national working groups and symposia that advance the state of cybersecurity education and drive cross-institutional collaboration.