Faculty Profiles

Dr. Bhavani Thuraisingham isn't your ordinary teacher. The professor of computer science and director for the Cyber Security Research Center is one of the leading experts in data security and data mining.

Thuraisingham works behind the scenes of our ever-increasing digital world to protect the billions of pieces of personal data floating around. But even as she seeks to protect our personal information, she's developing better ways to sift through mountains of data in search of potential terrorist agents.

"I dig in and collect information, perform the analysis, and determine if a person is suspicious," she explains. "But data-mining technology is not mature. We still have false positives and false negatives, and both can be a threat to privacy and data security."

Finding the balance between privacy and national security is a constant battle. Prior to coming to UTD, Thuraisingham worked primarily in the commercial and government sectors. She has worked at the MITRE Corporation (a nonprofit company that works closely with the Department of Defense, Federal Aviation Administration, and the Internal Revenue Service) since 1989, ultimately serving as a chief scientist in data management in the company's Information Technology Directorate. In the aftermath of 9/11, Thuraisingham joined the National Science Foundation for three years and participated in several new data-mining ventures to counter terrorism.

With all of her success in the government and private sectors—she has authored seven books and more than seventy journal papers and has three patents to her credit—it may be surprising to some that Thuraisingham has chosen academia.

"I was in academia [before moving into the private sector], but I always kept my contacts with academia as an adjunct professor,” she says. Knowing she wanted to return to an academic setting, Thuraisingham felt UTD was the perfect fit. "UTD is really a growing institution. I also enjoy advising students."

Thuraisingham is looking forward to seeing her department add several new classes in cyber security in the coming semesters and is excited about the university's new Security Assessment and Information Assurance Laboratory.

Thuraisingham is also a fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers and was the recipient of the IEEE Computer Society's 1997 Technical Achievement Award for her work to secure distributed database management.