Carrie Whitcomb wins prestigious Forensic Science Award

Carrie Whitcomb, Director of the National Center for Forensic Science at the University of Central Florida, was awarded the 2011th addition to The Briggs White Award. She received her own Briggs White Award plaque and is pictured with it and the Dean in the above photo.

When Dr. Briggs White became the Director of the FBI Laboratory he recognized the need for closer cooperation with state and local laboratories. After much debate, the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD) was born with Dr. Briggs White as its first chairman. His work in improving forensic labs throughout the world was recognized by past ASCLD President Bill Hartner when he created The Briggs White Award. The award serves to recognize an ASCLD member, past or present, who has demonstrated excellence in forensic science.

Whitcomb received a BS in zoology with a minor in chemistry at the University of Kentucky in 1967 and a MS in Forensic Science from George Washington University in 1976.

She became the Director of the National Center for Forensic Science (NCFS) at the University of Central Florida (UCF) from 1999 to present; see www.ncfs.org. She was a practicing forensic chemist from 1969 until she joined the management ranks in 1988 when she became the Director of the US Postal Inspection Service’s Headquarters Crime Laboratory in Washington, DC. She was the President of the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors in 1995.

Her goals have been to encourage and develop the scientific underpinnings of digital evidence. She was the first Vice-Chair of the Scientific Working Group on Digital Evidence (SWGDE) in 1998 that defined digital evidence.  At UCF, she helped facilitate the development of the Graduate Certificate in Computer Forensics in 2001 and the MS in Digital Forensics in 2008. She has been an American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) Fellow, starting in the Criminalistics Section in 1989; transferred to the General Section in 2005 to develop the digital evidence section and again transferred to the newest AAFS section, the Digital and Multimedia Sciences (DMS) Section, in February 2008 where she served as the Section Director for two years. It was 27 years before a new DMS Section at AAFS.

She was elected to the AAFS Executive Committee at the February 2008 and 2009 meetings. The National Institute of Justice awarded the NCFS a grant to develop a professional certification program within the digital forensics community. The Digital Forensic Certification Board (DFCB) launched their Founders Application on March 2, 2009.