Dr. Kevin Gamache is the Associate Vice Chancellor, Chief Research Security Officer, and Director of the Research and Innovation Security and Competitiveness (RISC) Institute for The Texas A&M University System (A&M System). In this capacity, he is responsible for ensuring that the eleven universities and eight state agencies within the A&M System comply with U.S. Government requirements for protecting sensitive federal information. He manages the A&M System’s security relationships with the Department of Defense, Energy, and the Intelligence Community.

Dr. Gamache created the Academic Security and Counter Exploitation Program, an affinity group of security and compliance professionals at universities across the United States. He was instrumental in establishing an annual security conference explicitly focused on the unique challenges of maintaining an effective security program in the open environment of academia. His leadership role and efforts on behalf of the academic security community resulted in The Texas A&M University System’s industrial security program receiving the James S. Cogswell Award from the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) in 2015, 2020, and 2023. In 2017, 2019, and 2023, the A&M System received the DCSA Award for Excellence in Counterintelligence.

In 2023, Dr. Gamache established the Research and Innovation Security and Competitiveness (RISC) Institute within the A&M System. The RISC Institute develops partnerships with higher education institutions and diversifies the scope of innovative solutions by collaborating with industry and government research security expertise.