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Baldwin Wallace University students give their professors high marks for teaching and mentoring, and that excellence is frequently confirmed by outside recognition.

In late August, Kenneth Atchinson, associate professor of computer science, was named IT Educator of the Year at the annual Best of Tech Awards.

Winning cybersecurity professor, mentor, coach

BW students have benefited from Atchinson's dedication for more than 20 years. Atchinson heads up BW's cybersecurity degree program, as well as the , and coaches BW's winning "CyberSec" team.

Under his expert leadership, BW cybersecurity teams have achieved repeated success in local, regional and national competitions, including first place in the 2019 Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC) Midwest Regionals and a strong showing in the nationals.

"I am honored and humbled to receive this award," says Atchinson. "It is really a reflection of the passion I have for teaching information technology (IT) and cybersecurity to students."

Working hard to stay relevant

"Keeping IT relevant takes hard work because the field literally changes on a weekly basis," Atchinson adds.

BW's cybersecurity program will soon have a new academic home with cutting edge lab space to help keep pace in the changing field.

The Austin E. Knowlton Center is scheduled to open in January 2021, bringing together data science, artificial intelligence, mathematical modeling, cybersecurity, engineering and physics in an impressive 55,000 square-foot building.