Advisory Board
"For everyone that knew Mitch and knew what it was like to be his friend and associate, I think everyone feels like they would want to do something for him. I would like to encourage everyone to make a contribution to the endowment. It's a perfect way to honor him and to help educate students that were like him."
Larry Taft
Dr. Dan Manson - CHAIR, CIS DEPARTMENT, CAL POLY POMONA
Dr. Dan Manson, CISSP, is a Professor and Department Chair in Computer Information Systems at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona). Dr. Manson is in charge of the Western Regional Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition and California Cyber Challenge as part of the United States Cyber Challenge. Dan has been co-Principal Investigator on three National Science Foundation grants to support workforce, curriculum and professional development in cyber security, including the current CyberWatch West NSF ATE Regional Center grant. Dan serves on the Academic Relations Committee for the Los Angeles Chapter of the Information Systems Audit and Control Association and is a past president of the Southern California High Technology Crime Investigation Association.
Laura A. Pohopien - Avanade Fellow
Dr. Laura Pohopien worked with Heba Ramzy, Avanade Global Citizenship Lead, to create Fuel- Technology, Leadership and Innovation conference in 2019. The first conference was hosted by Cal Poly Pomona. Since then, the conference has moved to a virtual platform where university scholars, interns, and high school students from across the globe gather for 1 week to learn, develop personally and professionally, and engage in an epic STEM-based hackathon. This year is Fuel’s 6th conference. The theme: “Imagine what you will do”
Additionally, Dr. Pohopien helped bring to Cal Poly an Avanade-sponsored university-wide AI Hackathon. The inaugural hackathon was great fun for all student participants and plans are in place to continue offering more events like this.
