CHSS Distinguished Alumni - Psychology

Jeff Williams

MA Psychology '93

For more than 25 years, Jeff Williams has been committed to improving the security of the software for the world. He founded and led three very different, but highly successful, organizations to help solve the problem. Williams is currently the chief technology officer at Contrast Security, a venture-backed cybersecurity startup protecting software applications at hundreds of blue-chip organizations.  Prior to Contrast, Williams created and led the OWASP Foundation to provide a free and open-source community for software security. OWASP has more than 250 chapters around the world and many successful open-source projects. He also founded Aspect Security, one of the world’s first application security consulting companies. 

Williams has created many highly successful open-source projects, including jbom, jot, OWASP Top Ten, WebGoat, ESAPI, ASVS, and more. He serves as an advisor to NIST, CISA, PCI Council, OASIS SARIF, OWASP CycloneDX, Eclipse Foundation, and advises many companies and agencies on application security. Williams has a BA from the University of Virginia, an MA from George Mason, and a JD from Georgetown. He is also a two-time master’s basketball national champion who would love to connect on LinkedIn.