Dr. Stephen Flynn, President (2010-2012)

In January 2010, Dr. Stephen Flynn became the sixth President of the Center for National Policy (www.cnponline.org), founded in 1981. He focused the work of the Center on informing and advancing societal and infrastructure resilience and lead the effort to organize the 9/11 Tenth Anniversary Summit in Washington, DC to mark the Tenth Anniversary of the 9/11 Attacks. Prior to being selected to lead the Center, he spent a decade as a senior fellow for National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Dr. Flynn is the author of the critically acclaimed The Edge of Disaster: Rebuilding a Resilient Nation (Random House, 2007), and the national bestseller, America the Vulnerable (HarperCollins 2004). He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Wharton School’s Risk Management and Decision Processes Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Since 9/11 he has provided testimony on twenty-six occasions on Capitol Hill. Dr. Flynn is one of the world’s leading experts on maritime and transportation security issues. Prior to September 11, 2001, he served as an expert advisor to U.S. Commission on National Security (Hart-Rudman Commission), and following the 9/11 attacks he was the principle advisor to the bipartisan Congressional Port Security Caucus, and advised the Bush Administration on maritime and homeland security issues. He currently serves as a member of the bipartisan National Security Preparedness Group, co-chaired by former 9/11 commissioners, Governor Tom Kean and Congressman Lee Hamilton.

He is a frequent media commentator and has appeared on Meet the Press, 60 Minutes, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, The Today Show, the Charlie Rose Show, CNN and on National Public Radio. Five of his articles have been published in the prestigious journal, Foreign Affairs. Excerpts of his books have been featured in Time, as the cover story for U.S. News & World Report, and as the subject of two CNN documentaries.

A 1982 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Dr. Flynn served in the Coast Guard on active duty for 20 years, including two tours as commanding officer at sea, received several professional awards including the Legion of Merit, and retired at the rank of Commander. As a Coast Guard officer, he served in the White House Military Office during the George H.W. Bush administration and as a director for Global Issues on the National Security Council staff during the Clinton administration.

Dr. Flynn received the M.A.L.D. and Ph.D. degrees in International Politics from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, in 1990 and 1991. He was a Consulting Professor at the Center of International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University from 2006-2010. He was a Guest Scholar in the Foreign Policy Studies Program at the Brookings Institution from 1991-92, and in 1993-94 he was an Annenberg Scholar-in-Residence at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2009, he received an honorary doctorate of laws from Monmouth University.

Dr. Flynn is the principal for Stephen E. Flynn Associates LLC, where he provides independent advisory services on improving enterprise resiliency and critical infrastructure protection, and transportation and maritime security. He also serves as Senior Security Advisor for Dowley Security Systems.

Born in Salem, Massachusetts, Dr. Flynn lives in Connecticut with his wife JoAnn and their daughter Christina.

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• Panel: Commercial flights remain top terror targets
  By: Thomas Frank, USA TODAY
  Sep 11, 2010
  
  

• Study on Terrorism Predicts Smaller, More Attacks
  By: Carolyn Presutti, Voice of America
  Sep 10, 2010
  
  

• A Diverse and More Complex Threat
  By: Bruce Hoffman, The National Interest
  Sep 10, 2010
  
  

• Report: Terrorist Threats Are More Difficult To Detect
  By: C-SPAN
  Sep 10, 2010
  
  

• We're still not ready for another Hurricane Katrina
  By: Stephen Flynn, The Washington Post
  Aug 29, 2010
  
  

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