NOVA’S Provost for Information and Engineering Technology, Dr. Chad Knights, has been named to the Amazon Web Services’ Educate Cloud Ambassador Council. Also, NOVA board member and student, Todd Rowley, was selected as Student Representative to Amazon Web Services Cloud Ambassadors.

On April 6^th, Dr. Chad Knights, was selected as a member of the 2020 faculty cohort for the AWS Educate Cloud Ambassador Program, https://aws.amazon.com/education/awseducate/cloud-ambassador-program/.  Knights also represents NOVA as one of five top-tier educators of 235 selected globally as a part of the AWS Educate Cloud Ambassador Council. The 2020 AWS Educate Faculty Ambassadors cohort joins the 2019 cohort and contains 235 members from over 47 countries and more than 180 higher education and K12 institutions.

AWS Educate Faculty Cloud Ambassadors are top-tier cloud educators who represent and promote AWS Educate to students, other educators and the general public. As ambassadors, they share their knowledge and experience in teaching cloud computing with other educators at their institution, in their community, and around the world. 

The new AWS Educate Cloud Ambassador Council members are: Dr Danda Rawat, Howard University; Chad Knights, Northern Virginia Community College; Tasha Penwell, Hocking College; Noah Gift, Duke University; Michael Soltys, California State University Channel Islands.

Click Here for the full list of faculty members around the world as a part of the Cloud Ambassador Cohort.  https://awseducate-public.s3.amazonaws.com/AWS+Educate+Cloud+Ambassador+2020+Cohort.pdf 

In addition, on April 30, Todd Rowley, market executive of the Capital Region for Old Dominion National Bank, NOVA board member and current NOVA student was selected for Amazon Web Services’ first cohort of the AWS Educate Student Ambassador Program.  The inaugural cohort contains 326 members from over 50 countries and more than 250 higher education institutions. Rowley was only one of two students selected from Virginia.

Rowley holds an MBA with honors in Finance and Operations Research/Management Science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) Pamplin College of Business, and a Graduate Degree in Banking Finance from the University of Delaware Stonier Graduate School of Banking with honors. He also has a personal interest in information technology and Cybersecurity, and as a means to address this interest, in 2019, Rowley completed an Associate of Science degree in Information Systems Technology (Summa Cum Laude) from NOVA. His studies at NOVA will continue as he pursues a second Associate of Science degree in Cloud Computing: Infrastructure and Services.

In addition to serving on the NOVA board and executive committee of the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Rowley is also the Chamber’s current Chairman.  Rowley has a long history of community engagement, and NOVA is proud to call him a board member, a student and now, an AWS Educate Student Ambassador.  

The AWS Educate Student Ambassador Program provides student leaders from around the world the opportunity to gain real-life experience while helping their peers gain valuable Amazon Web Services (AWS) technical skills to develop successful cloud careers.

AWS Educate Student Ambassadors will receive a host of benefits that will help them gain the professional skills needed for today’s competitive job market. They will have access to AWS experts through regular webinars and guest talks. They will influence AWS products and marketing, receive mentorship and career advice from AWS employees, and hone their professional skills by participating in speaking and training opportunities.

Throughout the academic year, AWS Educate Student Ambassadors also support AWS-related activities on campus, such as delivering presentations, identifying student-led startups, and participating in hackathons.

For the full list of students from across the globe who are a part of the Cloud Ambassador Cohort:  https://awseducate-public.s3.amazonaws.com/AWS+Educate+Student+Cloud+Ambassador+2020.pdf