Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, Chad F. Wolf introduced two new members to the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC): Tom Jenkins and Catherine Lotrionte. Created by President George W. Bush in 2002, the HSAC is a Department of Homeland Security federal advisory committee that provides the secretary with independent, informed recommendations, and advice on a variety of homeland security issues.

“My vision for the Homeland Security Advisory Council, consistent with its charter, is to seek strategic, timely, specific and actionable advice on a range of homeland security issues,” said Acting Secretary Wolf. “I’m pleased to appoint these leaders in their respective fields to the council, and I thank all the HSAC members for their continued service to the country, and to the Department.”

Please find additional background information on the new Homeland Security Advisory Council members below.

Tom Jenkins was appointed Fire Chief for the City of Rogers, Arkansas on January 16, 2009.  In this capacity he is responsible for over 150 career firefighters in ten locations.  Chief Jenkins has served under Governors Beebe and Hutchison on several state commissions and groups, including the Trauma Advisory Council, the Firefighter Benefit Review Panel and the Safe Schools Commission.  Chief Jenkins has served as a professor for both Northwest Arkansas Community College, Drury University and Oklahoma State University, teaching topics that range from leadership and administration to fire hydraulics and suppression tactics.  Chief Jenkins served as the President of the International Association of Fire Chiefs from 2017-2018. 

Catherine Lotrionte is a Senior Researcher at Georgetown University, a Senior Associate in the Technology Policy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a Senior Fellow at the McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security at Auburn University. Previously she served as the Brent Scowcroft scholar at the Atlantic Council. She is also the founder and former Director of the CyberProject at Georgetown University, where she has taught and written on international and national security law, international affairs and technology. At Georgetown she founded the Annual International Conference on Cyber Engagement which draws on the experience of government practitioners, industry representatives and academic scholars, providing technical, corporate, legal and policy perspectives from the international community.

Recently, the HSAC gathered to welcome the new members, discuss homeland security issues, and receive briefings from the council's Economic Security, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Risk Reduction, Youth Engagement, Biometrics, Emerging Technologies and Academic subcommittees. Additionally, the HSAC received public comment on, reviewed, deliberated, and voted to approve, the final reports from the subcommittees on Economic Security, ICT Risk Reduction, Emerging Technologies, and Biometrics. These final reports will now be delivered to Acting Secretary Wolf.

For more information about the HSAC, visit www.dhs.gov/hsac.