Old Dominion University launched a new institute that university leaders said will bring together experts from across its campus to research, test and evaluate solutions for national security.
The National Security Institute, launched earlier this month, stems from the university recognizing the depth of its faculty’s expertise in and its more than 30 research centers’ connection to the field, said Kenneth Fridley, vice president for research and economic development.
“We're able to bring all this together in a focused umbrella organization that allows for the leveraging of expertise and our facilities,” he said.
Its creation highlights the longstanding partnerships ODU has with agencies and companies in Hampton Roads and Washington, D.C.
“We’re positioned really well to support, not only the national security interests,” Fridley said, "but the local economic development and continued support of the national security broader enterprise and ecosystem.”
ODU is one of about a dozen schools with a national security institute, Fridley said, including the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech. Each relies on its institution’s research strengths and partnerships.
For ODU, that means focusing on its strengths in AI, modeling and maritime and port operations technologies to determine how systems work when physical and cyber infrastructure and human decision-making intersect, Fridley said. That could include how security threats would impact energy systems or supply chain disruptions.
A national search is underway for an executive director for the institute, a university spokesperson said.
