ACS Fellow Emeritus Professor William Caelli AO has been awarded the Founders’ Medal by the Colloquium for Information Systems Security Education (CISSE).

Professor Caelli is the first non-United States citizen to receive the medal.

The award recognised his long-standing efforts in cybersecurity education internationally.

“It is a great honour to be recognised, as an Australian, for my work over the years in
cybersecurity education and training. [This award] also seems to acknowledge the great association that our country has had with the USA in this area,” he said.

The ceremony, held in Las Vegas, recognises leading figures in government, industry, and academia.

ACS President Anthony Wong congratulated Professor Caelli on his milestone achievement.

“Professor Caelli is a pioneer in cybersecurity education and I congratulate him on being the first non-US citizen recipient of the Founders’ Medal. This is a great achievement and I am pleased to see him recognised for his significant contribution to the ICT sector,” he said.

With an impressive history in the ICT industry, being a founding member of the Australian Computer Society and having over 40 years’ experience in cyber security, Professor Caelli has made his mark on the global ICT landscape.

Professor Caelli said Australia has a vital and urgent need to further cybersecurity education.

“Australia is seen as being far behind in this area of vital national significance for the protection of practically all aspects of government, industry and society today. This has emerged as a significant role for the Australian Computer Society,” he said.

Professor Caelli is the retired Director of cybersecurity consultancy company International Information Security Consultants, and in 1979 founded Electronics Research Australia which developed a range of computers based on Stanford University Network (SUN) architecture with added cryptographic hardware and software.

In January 2003, Professor Caelli was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for his services to the ICT industry and education in information security.

This is the second Founders’ recognition the cyber security expert has received from CISSE for his efforts in ICT education. In 2007, he was awarded the William Hugh Murray Founders’ Award from the company for his contribution to information assurance education.

In the same year, he was recognised as the first Fellow of The International Information System Security Certification Consortium.

Professor Caelli said he remains available for any education entity that would like to further cybersecurity education in Australia.

South Australian ACS Senior Member, Professor Denise Wood, also received recognition for her service to education in her work as an academic, researcher and practitioner in the field of participation, inclusion and access, by being awarded an AO earlier this month.