Winners Announced for 2017 Women in Biometrics Awards

2017 Women in Biometrics Awards

Annual program honors five individuals for their contributions to biometrics and security during SIA Honors Night.

Silver Spring, Md. —Five deserving individuals will be honored as the Women in Biometrics Awards winners for 2017 during SIA Honors Night on Nov. 15, 2017, announced the Security Industry Association (SIA) and SecureIDNews.

Registration is now open for SIA Honors Night, which will be held at the Current at Chelsea Piers in New York, New York.

“The 2017 class of Women in Biometrics awardees includes leaders from state and federal government as well as association, academic and private sectors. It is a diverse group, but more importantly, the diversity of their contributions is equally great,” said Chris Corum, editor and publisher, SecureIDNews. “I am truly impressed by the achievements of this latest group of winners, selected by our judges from a pool of amazingly accomplished nominees.”

“The annual SIA Honors Night is a cornerstone to our work at the Security Industry Association, and the Women in Biometrics Awards is an important part of SIA Honors Night,” said SIA CEO Don Erickson. “Biometrics are a crucial element of security, and the major contributions of our nominees and winners are crucial to the continued advancement of the industry. SIA is proud to present this unique recognition program.”

Women in Biometrics annually recognizes the efforts of female leaders helping drive the biometric identity and security industry. Selected from a global pool of more 100 nominations, the five winners and members of the 2017 class of honorees include:

Kimberly Del Greco, Deputy Assistant Director, Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division, FBI

For nearly two decades, Del Greco has been helping to implement and shape the use of biometric technology within the FBI. Currently, she serves as the deputy assistant director of the FBI CJIS Division’s Information Services Branch. She administers the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, the Biometric Services Section and the Information Technology Management Section, providing services and IT support to fingerprint identification, facial recognition, criminal history records, firearm background checks and other critical operational functions of the CJIS Division.

Isabelle Moeller, Chief Executive, Biometrics Institute

In 2002, Moeller joined the Biometrics Institute, an organization dedicated to the promotion of the responsible use of biometrics by government and industry. First as the organization’s general manager and now as its chief executive, she runs the international operation from London, helping to shape policy and efforts for the 200-plus members organizations from 26 countries.

Liane Moriyama, Administrator, Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center

Moriyama was part of the team that brought the first Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) to Hawaii in 1990. Since then, she has driven biometric use across the state as the administrator of the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center under the Department of the Attorney General. During her tenure, she has overseen the rollout of biometrics in the statewide AFIS, criminal history information system, photo database and Sex Offender Registry. Her efforts have stretched beyond her home state as she has helped leaders in other states implementing robust biometric programs for law enforcement.

Stephanie Schuckers, Paynter-Krigman Endowed Professor in Engineering Science, Clarkson University

For more than a decade, Dr. Schuckers has been a leading biometric researcher, teacher and entrepreneur. At New York’s Clarkson University, Schuckers serves as the Paynter-Krigman Endowed Professor in Engineering Science. She has been instrumental in educating the next generation of biometric scientists. Her research has been instrumental in advancing biometric concepts such as liveness detection, and this advancement has not been confined to the academic arena. She founded, and served as CEO of, NexID Biometrics, a university start-up for fingerprint liveness detection, which was sold to Precise Biometrics in 2017.

Frances Zelazny, Vice President, BioCatch

For more than 20 years, Zelazny has championed the use of biometrics as a marketing leader for key industry companies. In the early days of facial recognition, she led marketing efforts at Visionics, which later became L-1 Identity Solutions and was acquired by Morpho. In that role, she worked to bring global recognition to the fledgling modality. Today, as vice president of marketing for BioCatch, she is working to define messaging for another rapidly emerging area, behavioral biometrics. During the past two decades, she has actively contributed beyond her corporate roles, helping shape state and federal legislation, working with trade associations and NGOs on policy and position papers, and serving as a positive industry voice for the media’s coverage of biometrics.

The Women in Biometrics Awards will be presented in New York City on Nov. 15, 2017 during the prestigious SIA Honors Night celebration hosted by SIA. In addition, a series of other important awards will be made honoring leaders from various facets of the security industry. Visit the SIA Honors Night webpage to register for the gala celebration.


About the Women in Biometrics Awards

Now in its third year, the Women in Biometrics Awards (WomenInBiometrics.com) are presented by the Security Industry Association and SecureIDNews.com. Key sponsors include PSA Security and IDEMIA.

Nominees may include those working for biometric companies, peripheral suppliers, system integrators, academia, government, or security and IT departments at a variety of organizations.

The contributions meriting nomination are diverse, but could include:

  • Substantive and defining leadership in academic, public awareness, legislative or standards efforts
  • Corporate leadership that extends beyond individual company walls, impacting the larger industry
  • Pioneering product development, innovation or corporate start-up efforts
  • Industry involvement sharing expertise and mentoring peers, thus growing the market

Past winners include biometric company executives, industry lobbyists, standards creators, association leaders and issuers/security practitioners. They come from a diverse group of organizations that span industry, government and nonprofit sectors.


About the Security Industry Association

The Security Industry Association (SIA) (www.securityindustry.org) is the leading trade association for global security solution providers, with nearly 800 innovative member companies representing thousands of security leaders and experts who shape the future of the security industry. SIA protects and advances its members’ interests by advocating pro-industry policies and legislation at the federal and state levels; creating open industry standards that enable integration; advancing industry professionalism through education and training; opening global market opportunities; and collaboration with other like-minded organizations. As a proud sponsor of ISC Events expos and conferences, SIA ensures its members have access to top-level buyers and influencers, as well as unparalleled learning and network opportunities. SIA also enhances the position of its members in the security marketplace through SIA Government Summit, which brings together private industry with government decision makers, and Securing New Ground®, the security industry’s top executive conference for peer-to-peer networking.


About SecureIDNews

SecureIDNews (www.SecureIDNews.com) is an industry-leading source for enterprise and government identity, credentialing and security markets. SecureIDNews is published by AVISIAN Publishing (www.AVISIAN.com). More than 30,000 subscribers and hundreds of thousands of web visitors get their ID technology news from AVISIAN’s suite of identity and security publications. ​