Associate Vice President for Center Development
Contact Information
- ruginski@umbc.edu
- 410-455-2851
- Office – ITE Building, Rm 218
Professional Experience
- since 2023 — Associate Vice President for Center Development — UMBC
- 2019-2023 — Executive Director for Cybersecurity Initiatives — UMBC
- 1998-2018 — Founder and CEO — SAINT Corporation
- 1996-2018 — Chief Operating Officer — Carson Inc.
- 1988-1996 — Senior Vice President — Carson Inc.
Short Biography
Donna Ruginski is the Associate Vice President for Center Development in the Division of Research and Creative Achievement (ORCA) at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). A senior technology executive with an extensive background in tech entrepreneurship, she leverages deep sector expertise to drive strategic growth of UMBC’s research portfolio across university, industry, and government ecosystems.
Ms. Ruginski holds multiple leadership appointments across research centers and programs, including serving as Associate Director for the Center for Research in Emergent Manufacturing (CREM), participating as a Collaborator for the NSF HDR Institute for Harnessing Data and Model Revolution in the Polar Regions (iHARP) and serving on the leadership team for the UMBC Cybersecurity Institute (UCI). Her active project leadership includes serving as co-PI for the Digital Enterprise Technology for the XM30 Infantry Fighting Vehicle program, co-developer of the UMBC Operational Technology Cyber Range, and co-PI for workforce development grants under the Cybersecurity for Manufacturing Operational Technology (CyMOT) initiative.
Dedicated to fostering regional innovation and economic development, Ms. Ruginski serves on the Board of Trustees for the bwtech@UMBC Research & Technology Park. She also acts as a mentor for bwtech’s Maryland New Venture program, guiding teams of entrepreneurs and technologists in launching new cybersecurity ventures, and supports early-stage startups as an advisor and mentor for the MACH37™ Cyber Accelerator program.
Prior to her current responsibilities, Ms. Ruginski served as UMBC’s Executive Director for Cybersecurity Initiatives from March 2019 through May 2023, where she managed the strategic market positioning of the university’s cybersecurity portfolio. Her academic leadership is backed by an extensive foundational background in corporate growth and entrepreneurship; she was a founding partner and Chief Executive Officer of SAINT Corporation, a vulnerability management software company, and previously directed business operations as Chief Operating Officer for a specialized cybersecurity consultancy.
Her contributions to the field have earned notable distinctions:
- Named to The Daily Record’s 2023 Cybersecurity Power List.
- Recipient of the 2021 Maryland Cybersecurity Award for Cyber Warrior Woman of the Year.
- Appointed as an International Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (INCS-CoE) Community Fellow.
Ms. Ruginski received her Master of Science in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering, and Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Towson University.
https://umbc.edu/stories/myrca-empowers-interdisciplinary-researchers/
https://umbc.edu/stories/crem-manufacturing-research-army/
https://umbc.edu/stories/cyber-training-for-manufacturing-workers/
https://www.urbanmfg.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Industry-and-Inclusion-MxD-Profile.pdf