Department of Homeland Security appointments

This page lists historical appointments to Department of Homeland Security positions through 2008.

Appointments

 * W. Ralph Basham was sworn in as Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection since June 6, 2006.


 * Robert C. Bonner: appointed by Tom Ridge to head new Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (will report to Asa Hutchinson, Undersecretary for Border and Transportation Security); was commissioner of Customs Service; former federal prosecutor who logged time in the Ronald Reagan and previous Bush administrations, has helped Customs develop several homeland security initiatives, including the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism.


 * Mike Brown: Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response (EP&R).


 * Michael Byrne of New York designated by Ridge to serve as Director of National Capital Region Coordination for Emergency Response; served in Office of Homeland Security at White House as Senior Director for Response and Recovery; previously, served as Deputy Federal Coordination Officer for Operations responsible for all federal response assets and recovery program administration in New York City after the attack on the World Trade Center.


 * Dick Clarke: appointed as the President's Special Advisor for Cyber security; appointed as first national coordinator for security, infrastructure protection and counter-terrorism (May 1998); served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence under Ronald Reagan, as Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs under George Herbert Walker Bush.


 * Steven Cooper: appointed by Bush as Homeland Security Chief Information Officer; previously served as special assistant to president and senior director for information integration in White House Office of Homeland Security; was chief information officer for Corporate Staffs and executive director of strategic information delivery at Corning; served as Director of Corporate Information Systems at Eli Lilly & Company; a Certified Computer Professional (CCP), received bachelor's degree from Ohio Wesleyan University, then earned Executive Education Certificate at Duke University.


 * General Wayne Downing.


 * Gordon England: appointed by Bush as Deputy Secretary of the Homeland Security Department; former executive vice president with General Dynamics Corp. and other aerospace firms; Navy Secretary past two years.


 * Clark Kent Ervin of Texas nominated to be Inspector General (new position); had been Acting Inspector General since January 24, 2003; prior to designation, served as Inspector General of Department of State and Broadcasting Board of Governors; served as Deputy Attorney General/General Counsel and Director of Administration (1999 to spring 2001) in Office of Attorney General of Texas; served as Assistant Secretary of State of Texas (1995-99); served as Associate Director of Policy for Office of National Service at White House (1989-91); native of Houston, Texas; B.A. (in Government) cum laude, Harvard University (1980); Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University (1980-82) (M.A. in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics); Doctor of Laws, Harvard (cum laude in 1985); to and between stints in federal and state government, practiced law in Houston, first with firm of Vinson & Elkins LLP, and later with Locke, Liddell & Sapp.


 * John C. Gannon: likely candidate for undersecretary for information analysis/intelligence and infrastructure protection division; former CIA deputy director for intelligence; former vice chairman of Intellibridge Corp.; previously headed interagency National Intelligence Council (coordinated work of 11 federal agencies); oversaw internal reorganization at CIA (1997).


 * Michael Garcia: appointed by Ridge to head new Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (the half of former Immigration and Naturalization Service devoted to enforcement and border protection)(will report to Asa Hutchinson, Undersecretary for Border and Transportation Security); was acting commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (acting INS chief since 12/1/02); previously served as assistant secretary for export enforcement at the Commerce Department; career federal prosecutor who in 2001 helped convict four members of al Qaeda for the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.


 * Janet Hale: appointed as Under Secretary for Management; was chief financial officer at Health and Human Services Department; was also HHS assistant secretary for budget, technology and finance; previously associate director at the Office of Management and Budget in early 1990s; served as Transportation Department&#8217;s assistant secretary for budget and programs; returned to government following five-year hiatus in mid-1990s as policy director for Sen.-elect Elizabeth Dole's failed 1998 presidential bid and, two years later, became associate administrator of finance for House of Representatives; moved to Health and Human Services in June 2001; controversial past: "The Nation magazine reported in January that as a senior official at the Housing and Urban Development Department in the mid-1980s, Hale 'was a second-tier figure in a HUD scandal that involved politically connected developers winning big-money contracts and favors from the department.' The magazine cited Wall Street Journal reporting that Hale approved waivers of regulations on a construction project sought by a former law partner of then secretary Samuel Pierce, who is currently the subject of an independent counsel investigation of alleged fraud in the administration of department programs."


 * Asa Hutchinson: appointed by Bush as first Undersecretary for Border and Transportation Security; former Republican congressman from Arkansas; led Drug Enforcement Agency past two years; will supervise nine of 10 employees in new department and integrate several agencies with responsibilities for protecting U.S. borders (66% of department&#8217;s budget and 93% of personnel).


 * Ronald J. James: appointed by Bush to be Chief Human Capital Officer; previously partner in Cleveland law firm of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey (represented management in labor and employment matters); served as Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor and as Assistant General Counsel for Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; earlier in career, served as trial attorney for Department of Transportation (litigator for cases involving transportation policies and mergers before regulatory agencies and federal courts); B.A. University of Missouri; M.A. Southern Illinois University; J.D., American University Law School.
 * "According to Federal Election Commission records, James contributed $250 to the Ohio Republican Party in 1999. Other employees of his law firm have contributed more than $10,000 to the campaign funds of Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio [chairman of Senate Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Federal Workforce and District of Columbia and key supporter of creation of chief human capital officer positions], as well as thousands of dollars to other Republican, Democratic and other candidates and political action committees since 1997."


 * Nuala O'Connor Kelly of Virginia appointed to be Privacy Officer; serving as Privacy Officer at Department of Commerce, as well as Chief Counsel for Technology and Deputy Director for Policy and Planning; previously, worked at Double Click, Inc. as Vice President for Data Protection and Chief Privacy Officer; was also an Associate for Sidley and Austin and Partner at Hudson Cook, L.L.P.; B.A., Princeton University; M.A., Harvard University; J.D., Georgetown University.


 * Bruce M. Lawlor (Army Maj. Gen.), senior director for protection and prevention in Office of Homeland Security, expected to be named chief of staff in new department; previously served as first commanding general of Defense Department&#8217;s Joint Task Force Civil Support, an organization designed to help out civilian emergency agencies in event of a terrorist attack or other disaster; Vietnam veteran and former intelligence officer.


 * James Loy: former Coast Guard Commandant selected by Norman Mineta to head Transportation Security Administration (July 18, 2002).


 * Charles McQueary: appointed by Bush as Undersecretary for Science and Technology; from North Carolina; retired president of General Dynamics Advanced Technology Systems; former board member, National Defense Industrial Association; president and vice president, AT&T/Lucent Technologies (1987-1997); director and department head, AT&T Bell Laboratories (1971-1987).


 * Roger Mackin: appointed to be Counternarcotics Officer and U.S. Interdiction Coordinator.


 * Alfonso Martinez-Fonts, Jr., a Cuban-American banker from El Paso, Texas, appointed by Ridge to serve as Special Assistant to the Secretary for private sector; retired last year after 30 years of service with JP Morgan Chase Bank (and its predecessors); most recently served as chairman and CEO of JP Morgan Chase Bank in El Paso, Texas; served as chairman of Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and was president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico City; graduate of Villanova; received MBA from Long Island University.


 * Susan K. Neely of Iowa appointed by Ridge to be Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs.


 * Pamela Turner of Virginia appointed by Ridge to serve as Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs; was Senior Vice President for Government Relations at the National Cable and Telecommunications Association in Washington, D.C.; was Deputy Assistant to President for Legislative Affairs at White House (1981-1989) and a Legislative Assistant on Capitol Hill (1968-1981).

--- President's Homeland Security Advisory Council: Announced June 11, 2002.
 * Joe D. Whitley: nominated by Bush to be General Counsel; was partner with Alston & Bird, Atlanta, GA, and chairs Government Investigations and Compliance Group (concentrates in area of White Collar Criminal Defense and Compliance, representing and defending individuals and corporations); also member of the Antitrust & Investigations Group; served in Department of Justice as Acting Associate Attorney General in Bush Administration (third-ranking position in DOJ)(appointed by both Reagan and Bush to serve as U.S. Attorney in Middle and Northern Federal Districts in GA); also served in other Department of Justice positions under five Attorneys General; member of Criminal Justice Section Council of American Bar Association and frequent lecturer in national ABA programs on Health Care Fraud and White Collar Crime; chairs several Georgia Institute of Continuing Legal Education programs, including Annual White Collar Crime Program, Cyber Crime Institute, and Health Care Fraud Institute, and currently serves as Vice Chair for Governmental Affairs of 2002-03 ABA Criminal Justice Section; J.D. and undergraduate degrees from University of Georgia.

"President Bush created the Homeland Security Advisory Council by Executive Order on March 19, 2002. The purpose of the Council is to provide the President with advice on homeland security matters from experts representing state and local government, the private sector, public policy experts and the non-profit sector.


 * Joseph J. Grano, Jr., of New Jersey will be designated Chair upon appointment. He is currently the Chairman and CEO of UBS Paine Webber and a veteran of the U.S. Special Forces. He received a Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and the USO Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Service.


 * William H. Webster of the District of Columbia will be designated Vice Chair upon appointment. Webster served as the Director of the FBI after serving as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. In 1987, Webster became the Director of the CIA, which he led until 1991. Since then, Webster has practiced law at the Washington, D.C. firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCoy.


 * Richard A. Andrews of California; Vice President for Emergency Planning in the Risk Management Division of ABS Consulting; served as Director of Governor's Office of Emergency Services for State of California (1991-98) and President of National Emergency Management Association (1995-96).


 * Kathleen M. Bader of Michigan; Business Group President with Dow Chemical Company and Corporate Vice President for Quality and Business Excellence (Dow since 1973); named on 50 Most Powerful Women in International Business by Fortune Magazine (October 2001).


 * David Arthur Bell of New York; Vice Chairman of Interpublic Group of Companies (world's largest marketing and communications and services company), as well as CEO and Managing Director of The Partnership, a global marketing communications group; was Chairman and CEO of TrueNorth Communications until its merger with Interpublic; previously CEO of Bozell Worldwide; current Chairman of Ad Council.


 * Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III.


 * Dr. Jared Cohon of Pennsylvania; President of Carnegie Mellon University; national authority on environmental and water resource systems analysis; served as member of Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (Chairman 1997); Dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University (1992).


 * Dr. Ruth A. David.


 * Lee H. Hamilton.


 * Governor Michael Leavitt 14th Governor of Utah (first elected 1992, reelected 1996, third term 2000); past Chairman of National Governor's Association.


 * James T. Moore of Florida; currently Commissioner of Florida Department of Law Enforcement (since 1988; with Department since 1973).


 * James Rodney Schlesinger.


 * Sidney Taurel of Indiana; Chairman, President and CEO of Eli Lilly and Company; joined Lilly subsidiary Eli Lilly International Corporation in 1971; President of Eli Lilly International Corporation (1986) and Executive Vice President of Pharmaceutical Division (1991).


 * Dr. Lydia W. Thomas of Maryland.


 * Mayor Anthony Williams, Mayor of District of Columbia (since 1998); was Chief Financial Officer of District of Columbia and previously Chief Financial Officer of U.S. Department of Agriculture; past positions include Deputy State Comptroller of Connecticut, Executive Director of Community Development Agency in St. Louis, Assistant Director of Boston Redevelopment Authority and Adjunct Professor at Columbia University.


 * Steven Young of Ohio; an Administrative Lieutenant with Marion City Police Department (25 years service); currently President of Grand Lodge of Fraternal Order of Police (Vice President 1997-2001).