ACE Awards

The Aerospace Cybersecurity Excellence (ACE) Leadership Award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and made significant contributions to advancing cybersecurity, cyber resilience, and safety across the aviation and aerospace sectors. Presented by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University as part of the President’s Forum on Research and Innovation: Aviation and Aerospace Cyber Resilience Symposium, the award honors leaders whose work has strengthened the security and resilience of increasingly interconnected aviation, aerospace, and space systems.

The award recognizes contributions in two areas: executive leadership, reflecting organizational, strategic, policy, and industry impact; and technical leadership, recognizing significant technical expertise, innovation, research, and advancement of aerospace cybersecurity capabilities. Please see below for past ACE award recipients.

 

Year Awardee Organization ACE Recognition
2023 Deneen DeFiore Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer, United Airlines Executive leadership
Patrick Morrissey Senior Technical Fellow, Collins Aerospace Technical leadership
2024 Luci Holemans Executive Technical Advisor for Cybersecurity, FAA Air Traffic Organization Executive leadership
Stefan Schwindt Senior Principal for Aviation Cybersecurity, GE Aerospace Technical leadership
2025 Brian Connolly Vice President and Chief Engineer for Product Security, The Boeing Company Executive leadership
Paul Hoyt Nelson Aviation Cybersecurity Lead, NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Technical leadership
2026 Marty Reynolds Managing Director of Cybersecurity, Airlines for America (A4A) Executive leadership
Siobvan Nyikos Technical Fellow, Boeing Commercial Airplane Product Security Engineering, The Boeing Company Technical leadership

 

https://erau.edu/about/news-and-stories/news/two-cybersecurity-leaders-honored-at-erau-expert-symposium

https://erau.edu/about/news-and-stories/news/two-leaders-honored-at-cybersecurity-symposium

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https://erau.edu/about/news-and-stories/news/two-aerospace-cybersecurity-leaders-honored-embry-riddle-symposium