Dr. Jonathan Katz is a professor of computer science at the University of Maryland , where he is also Director of the Maryland Cybersecurity Center. He received his PhD from Columbia University in 2002.

A world-renown expert in the fields of cryptography, privacy, and distributed computing, Katz is a co-author of the widely used textbook “Introduction to Modern Cryptography,” now in its second edition. He also serves as an editor for the Journal of Cryptology, and was program chair of the annual Crypto conference in 2016-2017.

Katz has interacted extensively with both government and industry on topics relating to blockchain, cryptography, and privacy-preserving technologies. He was a member of the DARPA Computer Science Study Group in 2009-2010 and has taught short courses on cryptography to several government agencies and corporations. He was an inaugural member of the steering committee for the IEEE Cybersecurity Initiative and currently serves on the State of Maryland Cybersecurity Council.