31_UAFS_FW1112:alum news 11/11/11 4:54 PM Page 31
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Second Time’s a Charm The chrysanthemums in Lion Pride Square bloomed right on cue for the Alumni Association’s 2nd Annual Alumni Weekend in mid-October, which brought some 75 alumni— a nearly 50% increase over last year— to campus. It’s hard to say what the highlight of the weekend was, but the buffet-style barbecue dinner at the foot of the Bell Tower on a splendid, warm Friday evening (left) was cerKEVIN LEDFORD
tainly a contender. MORE ONLINE: See the rest of the Alumni Weekend photos at www.uafsalumni.com.
LION FILE
From Nerd to Navy It’s not every day you go to work and meet the cast of the highest-rated drama on television, but for Jordan Sallis ’01, it’s just another day at the office. “I’ve met Abby, Duckie, Vance, and Eric,” Sallis says, referring to characters from the popular NCIS franchise on CBS. “In fact, the Eric character was modeled after a colleague of mine in our West Coast office.” The West Coast office of the real NCIS, that is. Sallis is a computer scientist in the cybercrimes division for the agency in Washington, D.C. The job is a dream come true for a selfdescribed nerd like Sallis. “I have to stay on top of new developments in technology, hacking, nerd culture,” he says. “Every crime nowadays has a vector that intersects with technology.” For example, if a bullet hits a cell phone, Sallis might be responsible for extracting data from the damaged device. Unlike his counterparts on TV, he doesn’t see any field action, but that doesn’t make his job any less exciting. “Guns, bombs, bullets are outside my area of expertise, but give me a computer and I can tear it up!” he says. Sallis credits UAFS professor Dr. Ken Pappas for pointing him in the right career direction. It was Pappas who introduced Sallis to the federally-funded program CyberCorps, which pays tuition at select graduate schools for students pursuing degrees in computer security. In exchange, students agree to work two years with the federal government after graduating. It was a perfect fit for Sallis, who had always hoped to serve his country but who is ineligible for the military because he has asthma.
“Working with NCIS has all the benefits of being in the Navy, like getting to travel, but without the possibility of being deployed,” Sallis says. He adds that the foundation he laid in the Honors Program while attending UAFS has prepared him well for the more human aspect of his career. “Although the applied science and technical training is how I get paid,” he says, “humanities is what trained me to be an adult and to learn how to sit with people from different cultures and backgrounds. It is what enabled me to grow as a human being.” —Erica Buneo ’09
Jordan Sallis ’01 with actress Pauley Perrette, who plays Abby Sciuto on NCIS, at NCIS HQ in Washington, May 2010.
UAFS BELL TOWER
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