Janet Napolitano, head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, will speak on September 20 at the Bush School’s Annenberg Presidential Conference Center. Her speech will address issues of homeland security ten years after the attacks of September 11, 2001. Secretary Napolitano’s presentation is part of the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs’ Moss Lecture Series. The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. and is open to the public.
Janet Napolitano is the third Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). As Secretary, Napolitano provides oversight to sixteen different units including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and the U.S. Secret Service. DHS also addresses security issues in the areas of science and technology, budgets and appropriations, health affairs, and immigration.
Prior to becoming Secretary in 2009, Janet Napolitano was the 21st Governor of Arizona from 2003 to 2009, where she implemented one of the first state homeland security strategies in the nation, opened the first state counter-terrorism center, and led the efforts to transform immigration enforcement. She was also the first woman to chair the National Governors Association, where she helped create the Public Safety Task Force and the Homeland Security Advisors Council, and in 2005, she was named one of the top five governors in the country by Time Magazine.
Secretary Napolitano was born in New York City and grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. She graduated from Santa Clara University with a B.S. in political science and summa cum laude with Phi Beta Kappa honors, and was the university’s first female valedictorian. She then received her J.D. from the University of Virginia School Of Law and participated in private law practice before entering public service.
The lecture is free and open to the public but reservations are required.
