He didn’t want to teach – 25 years later, Jens Myrup Pedersen commemorates his anniversary with a celebratory lecture
: 24.06.2024
It all started really nerdy with the computer games Sim City and Railroad Tycoon in a child’s room. Since then, it took off, became more technical, more dangerous in the fight against malicious network traffic and cyber espionage.
By Julie Høncke Keldorff, AAU Communication and Public Affairs. Translated by LeeAnn Iovanni AAU Communication and Public Affairs
Those who know Jens Myrup Pedersen may remember that he did not really dream of teaching at all when he completed his Master's degree in mathematics and computer science. Now, 25 years later, academic experience with students has hacked into the professor's mind software. Today, Jens Myrup Pedersen is a professor in cyber security, head of a research unit and national team coach of the Danish Cyber National Team.
On 27 June he celebrates his 25th anniversary. This is taking place Myrup-style with an open, celebratory lecture at 15.00 at AAU in Copenhagen. The lecture "En rejse i Cyber – mod en fremtid med håb og muligheder" [A cyber journey – towards a future with hope and opportunities] will be followed by a small reception.
To the question of why is it so meaningful to work with cybersecurity, he first answers the obvious about the importance of our digitalized society, and then he adds:
"But it is also an area where there is a real need for some nerdy skills that are not always appreciated very much in primary and secondary school. So, some young people grow enormously when they see what they can do and what they can be used for. To see ‘these kinds of young people’ blossom is absolutely fantastic," he concludes.
It is precisely the emphasis on communities that characterizes Jens Myrup Pedersen's way of being a teacher, researcher and national team coach:
"It's exciting, it's fun, and it's meaningful – all at the same time. And even though it’s very academic, it’s also working with people where you sometimes feel that you’ve made a difference on a human level. Over 25 years, these are probably some of the experiences that really stick," he says.
Of his favourite moments, Jens Myrup Pedersen refers to the first Cyber Security Hackathon in Aalborg in 2018 that he held with Linda M. Pedersen from Happy24. Here he felt that they were onto something really strong:
"It was the start of a lot of cool projects where I’ve learned a lot about combining interesting academic expertise with social communities," he says.
Since then, one exciting project has followed another.
Perhaps the first stone on the professor's career path was laid when he practiced planning and managing a city and a railway with strategy and ingenuity in his beloved computer games. Since then, this nerd has found a professional community and an important mission: To protect Denmark against cyberattacks and shape the talent of the future.
Sign up for Jens Myrup Pedersen's celebratory lecture here, and look forward to an afternoon on the topic of cybersecurity with a touch of anniversary fun and a twist of love for people and systems.