Francis X. Taylor, Executive Fellow of the Global Policy Initiative at the Keough School of Global Affairs at Notre Dame University, is the former Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. In that role, he provided the Secretary, DHS senior leadership, the DHS components, and state, local, tribal and private sector partners with the homeland security intelligence and information they needed to keep the country safe, secure, and resilient. I&A is a member of, and the Department’s liaison to, the National Intelligence Community.
Prior to his assignment at DHS I&A, Mr. Taylor was Vice President and Chief Security Officer for the General Electric Company in Fairfield, Conn. At GE, he was responsible for managing the security operations and crisis management processes designed to ensure the security of GE employees and operations globally.
Before GE, Mr. Taylor had a distinguished 35-year career in government service, where he held several senior positions managing investigations, security, and counterterrorism issues.
Most recently, he served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security and Director of the Office of Foreign Missions, with the rank of Ambassador. He was responsible for the global security of all U.S. diplomatic personnel and facilities. Mr. Taylor has served as the U.S. Ambassador at Large and Coordinator for Counterterrorism for the Department of State from July 2001 to November 2002. In this role, he was responsible for implementing U.S. counterterrorism policy overseas and coordinating the U.S. government response to international terrorist activities.
During his 31 years of military service, Ambassador Taylor served with distinction in numerous command and staff positions, rising to the rank of Brigadier General in September 1996. In his final active duty assignment, Brigadier General Taylor was the Commander, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, responsible for providing Air Force leaders with comprehensive criminal, fraud, counterintelligence and security investigation and operations to protect global Air Force operations.
Mr. Taylor has received numerous awards and decorations, including the U.S. Distinguished Service Medal, the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Defense Superior Service Medal, and the U.S. Department of State Honor Award.
Mr. Taylor holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Government and International Studies from the University of Notre Dame. He is a Distinguished Graduate of the Notre Dame Air Force ROTC program. He is also a Principal with Cambridge Global Advisors.