FBI-created board to foster outreach and promote understanding between Bureau, higher education
University Park, Pa. -- Penn State President Graham B. Spanier has been appointed chair of the National Security Higher Education Advisory Board. The board was created by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The appointment was announced in Washington by FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III.
The board, which will consist of the presidents and chancellors of several prominent U.S. universities, is designed to foster outreach and to promote understanding between higher education and the nation's national security, law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
The board will provide advice on the culture of higher education, including the traditions of openness, academic freedom and international collaboration. The board will seek to establish lines of communication on national priorities pertaining to terrorism, counterintelligence and homeland security. It also will assist in the development of research, degree programs, course work, internships, opportunities for graduates and consulting opportunities for faculty related to national security.
Spanier, commenting on the creation of the board, said, "Higher education is one of our nation's greatest assets and it is critical that those entrusted with our national security better understand the valuable contributions our universities make to research discoveries, education of young adults, international collaboration, faculty and student exchanges and the development of intellectual property."
The FBI objective, in collaboration with other agencies, is to work with these distinguished educators and national leaders to fulfill the Bureau's increasingly challenging missions.
"As we do our work, we wish to be sensitive to university concerns about international students, visas, technology export policy and the special culture of colleges and universities," said Mueller. "We also want to foster exchanges between academia and the FBI in order to develop curricula which will aid in attracting the best and brightest students to careers in the law enforcement and intelligence communities."
Spanier added, "We are mindful that higher education can play an increasingly prominent role in national priorities through our research, advanced degree programs and educational outreach."
The board will meet collectively at least three times a year in Washington, D.C., while individual presidents often will be invited to meetings of relevant working groups in the regions of their universities. As chair of the board, Spanier will be involved at the national level in relevant working groups. The board will begin meeting this fall.
Other members of the board include:
William Brody, president, Johns Hopkins University
Albert Carnesale, chancellor, University of California, Los Angeles
Jared Cohon, president, Carnegie Mellon University
Mark Emmert, president, University of Washington
Marye Ann Fox, chancellor, University of California, San Diego
Robert Gates, president, Texas A&M University
Gregory Geoffroy, president, Iowa State University
Amy Gutmann, president, University of Pennsylvania
David Hardesty, president, West Virginia University
Susan Hockfield, president, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Martin Jischke, president, Purdue University
Bernard Machen, president, University of Florida
James Moeser, chancellor, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
C.D. Mote, president, University of Maryland, College Park
John Wiley, chancellor, University of Wisconsin, Madison