Ray Vaughn - [ CSE Faculty and Staff ]

Ray Vaughn

Phone: (662) 325-2756
Email: vaughn@cse.msstate.edu

Biographical Information:

Professor
Ph.D., Kansas State University
William L. Giles Distinguished Professor
Personal Home Page

Research Areas:
Software Engineering and Computer Security

Courses Taught

I work in the areas of Software Engineering and Information Assurance (IA) - two highly related areas. Most of my work today is in the area of IA and in overseeing the our Cyber Corps activities sponsored by the Federal Government (Scholarship for Service program) and the Department of Defense (Information Assurance Scholarship Program).

The primary course I teach is Information and Computer Security CSE 4243/6243. This is what we refer to as a "split level" course meaning that it can be taken as an upper level undergraduate course or a graduate level course. The requirements for graduate students in the class are more than for undergraduates and involve some independent research. More on this course and others can be found at our departmental web site or by emailing me for a syllabus (vaughn@cse.msstate.edu).

I also teach a graduate level only class in information assurance (CSE 8990) titled "Current Topics in Information Assurance". This class is offered only to those graduate students that have completed CSE 4243/6243 and have an interest in this area. There is no text book for this class and we review current research in the area of IA by reading and discussing peer reviewed research papers. Topics vary in each class offering.

In the Software Engineering area, I also teach a graduate level course in Requirements Engineering - CSE 8273. During this class, we explore a very important part of the software engineering lifecycle - that of obtaining and understanding the requirements for the system under development. During this class, we examine techniques involved in requirements elicitation, specification, analysis, verification and validation, and management.

Other courses I have taught at MSU include Software Engineering I, Operating Systems, and the Software Engineering Practicum (a year long senior design project).

For any additional information on these courses, feel free to contact me.

Personal Information

I was born in Regensburg Germany as the first son of a career Army man. Having grown up all over the United States and Europe as my family moved with the military, I never established roots any one place. My high school years were spent at East Anchorage High School in Anchorage Alaska where I first developed a strong interest in computing. I entered the University of Southern Mississippi after high school where I completed a BS degree in Computer Science and graduated as a distinguished military graduate in the ROTC program. I was commissioned an officer in the Army where I spent the next 26 years serving in Alaska, Vietnam, Belgium, Washington DC, and a variety of other places. The Army sent me away to obtain a Masters and PhD degree in Computer Science at Kansas State University where I was introduced to and began a life long interest in computer security. Following the award of the PhD from KSU - the Army allowed me to serve at the National Security Agency's National Computer Security Center, the US Naval Academy, the Pentagon, and gave me command of the Army's largest software development Center - the Information Systems Software Command at Fort Belvoir VA. After retiring in 1995 at the grade of Colonel, I accepted a position with the world class computer services firm, EDS, as Vice President, DISA Integration Services where I as given responsibility for a number of government contracts and customer satisfaction with deliverables.

In October 1997, I was offered a faculty position with the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Mississippi State University where I currently serve as a Professor of Computer Science and I oversee the Computer Security Research Program.

Publications

Books

Book Chapters

Refereed Journal Papers

Refereed Conferences

Referred Conference Papers