About
Professor Gary Tan is a faculty member in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Penn State University, holding the rank of Professor since 2020. He is Co-director of the Institute for Networking and Security Research (INSR) and a co-hire of the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences (ICDS). His research focuses on software security, formal methods, and programming languages, leading the Security of Software (SOS) Group. He has held academic positions at Lehigh University (2008–2020) and Boston College (2005–2008).
Education: B.E. in Computer Science from Tsinghua University (1999), Ph.D. in Computer Science from Princeton University (2005), advised by Andrew W. Appel. Additional degrees include a B.E. in Economics from Tsinghua (1999).
Research Interests: Gary's work centers on applying compiler, programming language, and formal method techniques to enhance software security. Key areas include secure compilation, binary analysis, control-flow integrity, IoT security, and formal validation of file formats. His SOS Group explores these topics with a focus on practical and verified security solutions.
Grants & Funding: Gary has secured over $20 million in external grants, including multiple NSF awards (CAREER, CNS), DARPA projects (GAPS, SafeDocs), and industry collaborations with Microsoft Research, MIT Lincoln Lab, and Intel. His work on VeriPro (DARPA ICS) and SPARTA (DARPA SafeDocs) exemplifies his leadership in securing complex systems.
Awards: Notable recognitions include the 2024 Distinguished Paper Award at PLDI, 2023 Outstanding Research Award from Penn State Engineering, and the 2018 Ruth and Joel Spira Excellence in Teaching Award. He is an ACM Distinguished Member and served on the DARPA ISAT study group (2020–2024).
Labs & Teams: Gary leads the SOS Group and collaborates with interdisciplinary teams at INSR and ICDS. His research involves advanced tools like MCFI, Robusta, and RockSalt, emphasizing practical security solutions with formal guarantees.
