Professor and Coordinator, Cyber Programs, University of North Georgia, USA
Dr. Bryson Payne is a Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), and he holds the elite SANS|GIAC GPEN in network penetration testing, Global Response and Industrial Defense (GRID), and GIAC Reverse Engineering Malware (GREM) cybersecurity certifications. He holds a Ph.D. in computer science and has taught computer science and cybersecurity for over 25 years. Dr. Bryson Payne is the author of Go Hack Yourself (2022), Learn Java the Easy Way (2017), and Teach Your Kids to Code: A Parent-Friendly Guide to Python Programming (2015), all published by No Starch Press. He coached the #1-in-the-nation 2019 & 2020 NSA Codebreaker Challenge cyber operations teams and was a reverse engineering coach for the 2021-2023 US Cyber Teams. Dr. Payne has been awarded the Department of the Army Commander’s Award for Public Service medal from U.S. Army Cadet Command, the Order of Thor medal from the Military Cyber Professionals Association, and the University System of Georgia Chancellor’s Service Excellence Leader of the Year Award. Dr. Payne was recognized by the UNG Alumni Association as the 2021 Distinguished Professor, and by the cybersecurity industry association, EC-Council, as the 2021 Academic Instructor of the Year. Dr. Payne was the founding Director of the Center for Cyber Operations Education at the University of North Georgia, an NSA-DHS Center for Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense. He has written over $50 Million in successful grants for workforce development, technology education, and cybersecurity, and he has trained over 70,000 students through his online courses on coding and ethical hacking.
