Richard Ernest Dakin

Dakin was the CEO and co-founder of Coalfire Systems, which he started in Louisville in 2001. During his tenure, he grew the company from small start-up to nearly 300 employees in North America and Europe. The company helps growing organizations achieve multiple IT compliance objectives that tie to long-term strategy to prevent security breaches and data theft.

He previously worked as president of Centera Information Systems, a leading eCommerce and systems integration firm. After serving in the U.S. Army following graduation from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1973, Dakin began his management career at United Technology Corporation and received his MBA, from the University of Oklahoma - Price College of Business, in 1979.

Dakin was the past president of the FBI InfraGard program in Denver and a member of a committee hosted by the U.S. Secret Service and organized by the Joint Council on Information Age Crime.

Dakin was part of a national security advisory team for the White House and Congress. He has also provided security advice to numerous agencies and committees including The Department of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, the Centers for Disease Control, the FBI and the Bureau of Justice. Dakin was also a member of the U.S. Department of Energy Risk Management Process Development team and a member of the Silicon Flatirons Cybersecurity Roundtable led by the University of Colorado Law School.

Rick has also been the winner of numerous awards and accolades including the 2006 FBI Community Service Award for combating cyber crime; named on the Forbes Fast 500 Award for recognition of leadership in building one of the fastest growing technology companies in the U.S. and selected to participate on the US Secret Service Panel on Cyber Crime.

Dakin is survived by his wife Carol, son Luke Dakin and step-sons Jeff and John Baer. He was born 1951 in Hartford, CT, where his father was a WWII Veteran of the U.S. Navy. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point and received a bachelors in engineering in 1973. He graduated top of his class from the University of Oklahoma with an MBA in 1979.