Microsoft Supports Naval Academy's Center for Cyber Security Studies Building with Gift of $1 Million

ANNAPOLIS, Md., Sept. 24, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Technology industry leader Microsoft has made a $1 million gift to the Naval Academy Foundation to support the Academy's Center for Cyber Security Studies building. While the federal government has directed $120 million for construction of the building, expected to be completed in 2018, additional funding is required to fully outfit its laboratories, classrooms, meeting spaces and other features.

"The Naval Academy's Center for Cyber Security Studies (CCSS) has emerged as a key element of the Naval Academy's preparation of our next generation of Navy and Marine Corps officers," said Byron F. Marchant '78, president and CEO of the Naval Academy Alumni Association and Foundation. "Developing the resources necessary to achieve the CCSS's ambitious mission requires a public-private partnership. We are delighted to welcome Microsoft as a major supporter in this vital Academy initiative."

The CCSS strives to educate all midshipmen in areas of cyber defense and warfare, facilitate the sharing of cyber expertise and perspectives, provide a streamlined means of identifying priorities, enhance interdisciplinary cyber research, disseminate information and shape a common framework for cyber-related efforts. In addition to two courses required of all midshipmen, the CCSS offers a major in cyber operations that will graduate its first midshipmen in 2016. The planned CCSS building, expected to be the last major academic structure built on the Academy Yard, is a five-story, 206,000-square-foot facility that will feature the Academy's only Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF, a secure space that will allow for the discussion and management of classified materials.

"The Naval Academy's Center for Cyber Security Studies brings together three vital priorities for Microsoft: national security, the state of the art in technology and the education and career development of the selfless and dedicated young men and women who serve our country," said Chris Cortez, vice president, Microsoft Military Affairs, retired U.S. Marine Corps major general and father of Christopher Cortez '02. "Our support of the Center is part of our broader commitment to the U.S. armed forces and to advancing the future of technology education."

The Naval Academy Foundation's mission is to support, promote and advance the mission of the Naval Academy by working in conjunction with Academy leadership to identify strategic institutional priorities, and by raising, managing and disbursing private gift funds that provide a margin of excellence in support of the nation's premier leadership institution.

CONTACT: Samantha Casamassima, 703-618-6016, [email protected]

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SOURCE United States Naval Academy Alumni Association

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