Shankar Banik

Shankar Banik is a Professor and Department Head of Cyber and Computer Sciences at The Citadel, serving as Director of the Citadel DoD Cyber Institute and Co-director of the Center for Cyber, Intelligence, and Security Studies. He holds a B.Tech. (Hons.) from IIT Kharagpur (1997), M.S. (2001), and Ph.D. (2006) in Computer Science from the University of Oklahoma. Since 2011, he has led cybersecurity education initiatives, including designing undergraduate cybersecurity minors, graduate cybersecurity specializations, and certificate programs. His research focuses on network security, multicast protocols, and cybersecurity education infrastructure.

• Academic Roles: Graduate Program Director for Computer Science
• Leadership: NSA/DHS Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education Program Director

He has secured grants like the 2016 GenCyber "CyberCitadel" workshop for K-12 educators and mentors students in peer-reviewed research projects. Advises Citadel ACM Club and Cybersecurity Club.

• Awards: Multiple Citadel institutional honors (2014-2017)
• Grants: NSA/NSF GenCyber Grant (2016)

His work emphasizes bridging academic cybersecurity training with real-world defense applications through interdisciplinary collaboration.