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Homeland Security Secretary to Visit Duke for Anniversary of 9/11

DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson will speak at Sanford on Sept. 8

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh C. Johnson will discuss threats at home and abroad at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy Thursday, Sept. 8, just days before the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

The event is free and open to the public, and will take place at 6 p.m. in the Sanford School’s Fleishman Commons. Event parking will be available in the Sanford School lot or the Science Drive visitor lot.

As the fourth secretary of homeland security, Johnson will discuss counterterrorism and homeland security policy and the changing nature of the current conflict.

Before becoming homeland security secretary in 2013, Johnson served as general counsel to the Department of Defense and the Department of the Air Force and as an assistant U.S. attorney.

“Jeh Johnson has had a seat at the table in the key decisions about U.S. security policy over the past seven and a half years,” said David Schanzer, a Sanford School professor and director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security. He will lead the discussion with Johnson.

"Secretary Johnson is a thoughtful leader and a man of integrity and is uniquely positioned to share his insights on national security,” added Gen. Martin Dempsey, retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and current Rubenstein Fellow at Duke.

Event sponsors include the Duke American Grand Strategy Program, the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security, the Sanford School, the Department of Political Science and the Triangle Institute for Security Studies. 

This is the fifth annual event in recognition of the 9/11 attacks. Prior speakers included former Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano (2011), former Assistant Attorney General (Office of Legal Counsel) Jack Goldsmith (2012), former head of the CIA and NSA Gen. Michael Hayden together with journalist Bart Gellman (2013), former Ambassador and State Department Counterterrorism Coordinator Daniel Benjamin together with former assistant to the President for Homeland Security Fran Townsend (2014), and scholar and author Jessica Stern (2015).