FAIRES — Research, Education and Science

FOUNDERS & LEADERSHIP

The people
behind the research.

A founding team connecting academic depth, research leadership, and hands-on experience building complex computing systems.

Nancy R. Mead, Ph.D.

Co-founder

Nancy R. Mead

President & Chief Executive Officer

SEI Fellow · IEEE Life Fellow

Nancy R. Mead is a Fellow of Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute and an Adjunct Professor of Software Engineering at Carnegie Mellon. An IEEE Life Fellow and ACM Distinguished Educator, she is known for her work in security requirements engineering and software assurance education.

She was the principal investigator and primary developer of the SQUARE method for security requirements engineering and led the Software Assurance Curriculum Project. Her experience includes research and education leadership at the SEI and large-scale software systems work at IBM Federal Systems.

Software assurance · Security requirements · Research education

Academic profile
Lei Chen, Ph.D.

Co-founder

Lei Chen

Vice President

Professor · Graduate Program Director

Lei Chen is a tenured full professor and Graduate Program Director in the Department of Information Technology at Georgia Southern University. His research spans cybersecurity, privacy, digital forensics, cloud computing, and mobile and wireless networks.

He has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and secured approximately $3 million in external research funding as principal investigator or co-principal investigator, including support from the NSF and NSA. He earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science and Software Engineering at Auburn University and is a Senior Member of IEEE and EAI.

Cybersecurity · Digital forensics · Applied computing

Academic profile
Cemil Emre Yavas

Co-founder

Cemil Emre Yavas

Secretary & Treasurer

Senior Researcher · Technology & business leader

Cemil Emre Yavas is a Senior Researcher at Georgia Southern University and an industrial engineer with over 30 years of experience in the IT industry. He has led award-winning projects in digital services and specializes in artificial intelligence and machine learning.

He also manages IT investment trusts focused on nonprofit initiatives. Throughout his career, he has received more than 50 international awards for contributions to technology and digital innovation.

Trustworthy AI · Multi-agent systems · Human–AI collaboration

ORCID profile

Academic affiliations and prior accomplishments are those of the individual founders. They do not imply institutional sponsorship or endorsement, or that prior grants and publications were administered by FAIRES.

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