Paul Ahern Scholarship

About the Paul Ahern Scholarship

The Security Industry Association (SIA) is honored to introduce the Paul Ahern Scholarship at The Interface on April 11, 2024, during ISC West. The Ahern Scholarship will be presented annually to applicants from SIA member companies who have successfully completed the SIA Open Supervised Device Protocol (OSDP) OSDP Verified program or individuals responsible for the implementation of access control systems.

The specific application requirements and selection process will be overseen by the SIA OSDP Technical Subcommittee. Scholarship recipients may use the funds for OSDP Boot Camp enrollment and any related content that will support an individuals’ understanding of effective OSDP implementation.

The Paul Ahern Scholarship is made possible through the generous support by SIA member companies and the OSDP community who greatly admired Paul’s expertise, enthusiasm for the security industry and passion for strongly encouraging widespread adoption of OSDP. SIA anticipates that the first scholarship award will be announced in the fall prior to ISC East.

About Paul Ahern

Paul Ahern, who passed away in 2023, was well known within the security industry. He joined Cypress Integration Solutions in 2005 and was named the company’s president in 2007. During his time with Cypress, he logged over a million miles in meeting with customers regarding Cypress solutions and was highly engaged in security industry events, including ISC West. Ahern also supported and sponsored SIA’s events and programs.

A dedicated member of SIA, Ahern served on SIA’s membership committee and was a strong advocate for the association. He was especially instrumental in SIA’s standards initiatives, particularly around the SIA OSDP standard. Ahern was very close to his family, and viewed the security industry as an extension of family. He was known across the industry for his many contributions to security and his self-deprecating humor, kind nature and giving spirit.

Brien Ahern, Paul’s son, said, “It can’t be stated heavily enough how much he adored everyone at the office, the people he worked with, at home or on the road. Every car ride I’d be in with him, even if it was only 30 minutes, at least one person was called, or called him to talk about life and family. He went out of his way to make sure everyone was looked after with the highest selflessness.”

About OSDP Boot Camp

SIA's OSDP Boot Camp is a daylong in-depth training on how to design, configure and deploy modern, interoperable, OSDP-compliant access control systems. Attendees will learn how to more effectively do business with sophisticated firms that demand current security technologies, receive the information needed to train teams on OSDP, gain the skills to transition from legacy access control to today's modern technologies and more.

Donor Program

Any company or individual that shares an interest in OSDP may donate to support the Paul Ahern Scholarship.

Donation Levels:

• Donation levels:
  • Verified level: $500-$999
  • Secure level: $499-$250
  • Interoperable level:  ≤$250

Tax Deductibility Status

Your contribution to SIA, a 501(c)(6) organization, is not a tax-deductible donation; however, each company making a donation should check to see if contributions can be deducted as part of the company's own business operations deductions.