Emerging Leaders in Computer Science Award

Dr. Martin Georgiev ’11 and his wife Nona Sirakova established the Emerging Leaders in Computer Science at SUNY Brockport to recognize an exceptional student working toward a bachelor’s degree in one of the programs in the Department of Computing Sciences.

A summa cum laude graduate of the Honors College, Dr. Georgiev was a member of Alpha Chi honorary society and Phi Mu Epsilon, the national mathematics honorary. After graduating from Brockport, he entered graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin where he received his PhD in computer science in 2015.

While in graduate school, he was a graduate research assistant and had two internships at Google. After earning his doctoral degree, he worked in software security for Yelp. Currently, Dr. Georgiev is security engineering manager at Uber, working in vulnerability analysis. He has written numerous articles on the topic, including one recognized as the AT&T Best Applied Security Research Paper, and he is the recipient of a Google Vulnerability Award.

Ms. Sirakova, a technical program manager at Google, earned her undergraduate degree in Computer Science at the University of Texas at Austin as a Turing Scholar. She earned her Master of Science in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Washington. Before joining Google, she worked for Microsoft as a program manager, and prior to that role, as a software engineer intern at Google. She also has served as a volunteer with Girls Who Code.

Applicants for the Emerging Leaders in Computer Science Award, must be full-time students working toward their bachelor’s degree in Brockport’s Department of Computing Sciences. They also must be sophomore students at the time they apply and have a minimum GPA of 3.5. They must demonstrate leadership skills through involvement with on- or off-campus activities, part- or full-time employment, experiential learning, research, or volunteer activities as determined by the Department of Computing Sciences scholarship selection committee. Preference will go to applicants who have had a prior internship or part- or full-time employment in IT or software development.