Pitt Cyber announced 2 new staff members

The University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy, and Security (Pitt Cyber) has announced appointments for its policy director and research and academic director. The roles were filled by Pitt alumna Jessica Kuntz and Associate Professor Yu-Ru Lin, respectively.

Kuntz (GSPIA ’15) joins Pitt Cyber from the U.S. Department of State, where she most recently served as vice consul at U.S. Embassy London and previously at U.S. Embassy Jerusalem. She also served as an economic officer to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations and the Bureau of International Organization Affairs.

Kuntz succeeds Chris Deluzio as policy director. Deluzio is now serving his first term in Congress representing Pennsylvania’s 17th district.

“I’m thrilled to be joining the Pitt Cyber team,” said Kuntz. “Constant and rapid technological innovations are shaping our world and our local communities. It’s critical that policymakers understand these technologies and play a proactive role in ensuring are deployed in a manner that promotes trust, security, and equity.”

Prior to her time at the State Department, Kuntz was a federal government consultant with Deloitte LLP. She was also the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship and the David L. Boren Fellowship.

Lin is an associate professor in the Department of Informatics and Networked Systems and a Pitt Cyber Affiliate Scholar. In her new role as research and academic director, Lin will lead engagement with stakeholders in the university academic community and develop cross-disciplinary research programs with Pitt Cyber affiliate scholars. 

Lin succeeds political science professor Michael Colaresi, following the conclusion of his term and his appointment as the inaugural Vice Provost for Data Science. Colaresi remains director of the Pitt Disinformation Lab at Pitt Cyber and a senior scholar of Pitt Cyber.

“I’m excited to be part of the Pitt Cyber team, said Yu-Ru Lin. “Pitt Cyber’s deep commitment to impactful, policy-relevant cyber work has proven to be more needed than ever. I look forward to continuing to foster and amplify the exceptional range of cyber-related research across the University.”

Lin studies social and political networks as well as computational and visualization methods for understanding network data. She leads the Pitt Computational Social Dynamics Lab (PISCO LAB). She also serves on the steering committee of the Collaboratory Against Hate, a partnership between the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, and served on Pitt Cyber’s Pittsburgh Task Force on Public Algorithms.