WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – The Air Force Institute of Technology welcomes Scott Graham as new dean leading the Office of Research and Outreach.
“I have been a fan of AFIT since I learned about it as an undergraduate cadet,” he said. “It is an extraordinary place with innate ability to positively influence our national defense. I look forward to working with the wonderful faculty, staff and students as we strive to find new and better ways to make an impact in this era of great power competition.”
Graham had been a professor of computer engineering in AFIT’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management.
In his new role, Graham is responsible for managing a $40 million research program of both federal and nonfederal partnerships. He provides policy recommendations and assistance to AFIT leadership, faculty and sponsors on all matters relating to academic research, technology transfer, strategic communications, outreach and partnership activities to ensure efforts are relevant to Air and Space Force needs.
“Dr. Graham will work with all AFIT schools to continue developing a high-quality research program, which is critical to the success of all graduate education programs,” said Dr. Walter Jones, AFIT director and chancellor.
Graham has a long history at AFIT, both as a student and a faculty member. He graduated from AFIT’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management with a master’s degree in electrical engineering in 1999. After an assignment as a software test manager at the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center, he attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2001-2004 through AFIT’s Civilian Institution Programs.
After earning his doctorate in electrical engineering, he joined the Graduate School faculty as a military assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, teaching graduate-level courses in advanced networking concepts. He held several department leadership positions before becoming director of AFIT’s Commandant’s Action Group from 2007-2008. After retiring from active duty in 2015, Graham returned to the Graduate School as a civilian faculty member and later became the Center for Cyberspace Research director.
His research expertise is in cyber physical system security, looking at the intersection between real physical systems and the computers that control them. To date, he has graduated 37 master’s and six doctoral students, secured 17 research grants, and published 30 journal articles, 61 conference papers and 17 book chapters.
Select professional service activities include serving as chair of the Graduate Cyber Operations Program Curriculum Committee, as well as faculty search and awards committees. He is currently the Graduate School’s Faculty Council president.
Graham received the 2022 Air Education and Training Command Outstanding Scientist/Engineer Award (Mid-Career Civilian category), Air University Civilian of the Quarter (Category III) Award in 2017, and Air Force Science and Engineering Team Award in 2010 and 2011. He has been an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers senior member since 2011.