About the Expert

Expert Bio

Richard Falkenrath is senior fellow for national security at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also chief security officer at Bridgewater Associates, an investment manager, where he is responsible for leading implementation of cyber, physical, and staff security strategy. From 2010 to 2014, Falkenrath served as principal of the Chertoff Group, LLC, a security consultancy, advising clients on managing operational and information security risk, and was also a contributing editor to Bloomberg TV, where he commented several times per week on national security, foreign policy, and technology issues.

From 2006 to 2010, Falkenrath served as the New York City Police Department's deputy commissioner for counterterrorism, where he strengthened the city's overall effort to prevent, prepare for, and respond to terrorist attacks. From 2001 to 2004, he held several leadership positions within the White House advising the president and his senior team, including director for proliferation strategy in the National Security Council. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Falkenrath was named special assistant to the president and senior director for policy and plans in the Office of Homeland Security. In January 2003, he was promoted to deputy assistant to the president and deputy homeland security adviser. During his career, he has also worked at Harvard Kennedy School. Falkenrath is a summa cum laude graduate of Occidental College and holds a PhD from the department of war studies at King's College London, where he was a British Marshall scholar.

Affiliations: 

  • Bridgewater Associates, chief administrative officer
  • Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, mission committee of the board of governors
  • Trilateral Committee, member

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