Schlein Center for

Cybersecurity

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Penn’s Schlein Center for Cybersecurity is a world leader in security and privacy by design, developing innovative approaches for building systems that are secure from the ground up.

Michael Hicks

Director of the Schlein Center for Cybersecurity

Michael Hicks, the Cecilia Fitler Moore Professor and Associate Chair in Penn’s Department of Computer and Information Science, serves as Director of the Schlein Center for Cybersecurity, bringing extensive academic leadership, industry experience, and internationally recognized expertise in secure and reliable software systems. His research-driven, interdisciplinary approach—grounded in programming languages, software engineering, prevention, and systemic resilience—positions him to lead the Center’s efforts to advance impactful cybersecurity research, collaboration, and mentorship.

Our work is founded on Three Pillars:

Innovative System Building

Tackling hard problems by designing novel systems and architectures.

Mathematics and Formal Logic

Grounding our designs in mathematics and formal reasoning to provide provable guarantees.

Real-world Validation

Validating our ideas through realistic prototypes and data from deployed systems to ensure measurable real-world impact.

The Schlein Center for Cybersecurity researchers partner with experts in law, policy, economics, and health, as well as established and emerging industry leaders, to translate lab successes into real security and privacy improvements for organizations and society.