Juliette Kayyem ’95 will be assistant secretary for intergovernmental programs in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Janet Napolitano announced today. In her new role, Kayyem will coordinate the department’s efforts with state, local, tribal, and territorial governments.
Kayyem served on the Obama administration’s transition team for National Security issues, focusing on the Department of Homeland Security.
Kayyem has been the Massachusetts undersecretary for homeland security since January 2007, when she was appointed by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick ’82. She is the first Arab-American to serve as a homeland security adviser at the state level.
Kayyem’s legal career began in 1995 when Patrick hired her to work with him the U.S. Department of Justice’s civil rights division. She then became a policy adviser on homeland security issues to Attorney General Janet Reno.
In 1999, Kayyem was one of ten people appointed to the National Commission on Terrorism, which was created by Congress to evaluate the growing threat of terrorism. She went on to become a lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School, where she was head of the National Security Program.
Kayyem is the coauthor of “Preserving Liberty in the Age of Terror” with HLS Professor Phil Heymann ’60.