Donovan C. Chau

Donovan Chau, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in Cybersecurity and National Security. He has been affiliated with UWF for the past decade, working in areas such as economic development, innovation, and research engagement. He has taught and supervised graduate students in political science, international affairs, and cybersecurity as well as undergraduate students in the Kugelman Honors Program. In addition, he led the establishment and promotion of the Hacking for Defense course (the first in Florida) and similar student-driven applied research projects across campus. His efforts helped to create sustainable cooperative relationships among university, industry and government partners in the focus areas of security, technology and defense. Before UWF, he was an assistant, then associate professor of political science (tenured) at California State University, San Bernardino. He taught over one thousand undergraduate and graduate students in over forty courses, and developed teaching and research expertise in terrorism, international security, and on East Asia and Africa.

Before academia, he worked as a professional staff member in the U.S. House of Representatives and as a government contractor in homeland security and counterterrorism. He received his BA in Literature/Government from Claremont McKenna College, MS in Defense and Strategic Studies from Missouri State University, and PhD in Politics and International Relations from the University of Reading (UK).