Rick Rescorla Homeland Security Lecture Series Featuring John Tien, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security

This annual virtual event is hosted by France Hoang, mcj '00

Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022
Noon - 1p.m. CT
Zoom

Miss the Lecture? Listen to it now: https://vimeo.com/763462787/9b61199c1c

 

About the speakers

John Tien is the first Asian American to be confirmed as the deputy secretary of U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Tien received a bachelor of science from West Point and a master of arts from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and was also a National Security Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Tien began his career at the United States Military Academy at West Point where he was the first Asian American to ever serve as first captain and brigade commander, West Point’s top ranked cadet position. He served as a U.S. Army combat arms officer for 24 years, retiring in 2011 at the rank of colonel. He is a veteran of three combat tours to include serving as the Task Force 2-37 Armor Battalion commander in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Tien previously served in the Obama Administration as the National Security Council senior director for Afghanistan and Pakistan from 2009-2011, the Bush Administration as the National Security Council director for Iraq from 2008-2009, and the Clinton Administration as a White House fellow in the Office of the United States Trade Representative from 1998-1999. Prior to his current role, Tien has served in senior executive roles in the critical infrastructure financial services sector as a managing director at Citigroup.

 

France Hoang received a master of criminal justice from Washburn University in 2000. He graduated at the top 1% of his class at West Point and also graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center.

France is a veteran entrepreneur who has been on the founding teams of companies that have generated over $600 million of combined sales and employed over 1,200 professionals across the fields of law, aerospace, defense, government services and technology. He also has over 20 years of national security experience, with service in every branch of the U.S. government. He clerked for Chief Judge James E. Baker on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces and for Judge Thomas Griffith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. France was appointed by President George W. Bush as an associate White House counsel and special assistant to the president. Shortly after leaving the White House, he mobilized in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM where he served as the executive officer of a U.S. Army Special Forces Company on a combat deployment in Southeast Afghanistan.

France previously deployed to the Former Yugoslavia during Operations Joint Endeavor and Joint Guard and later served as the deputy chief of police and SWAT commander for Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He previously worked as a lawyer at the law firm of Williams & Connolly and briefly served as an assistant United States attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia. He currently serves as a distinguished visiting lecturer at the U.S. Military Academy in the Department of Law.

France's current and previous board service includes MAG Aerospace, the Stimson Center, Marymount University, Bunker Labs, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. He also serves as an advisor to the ABA Standing Committee on Law & National Security.

France was born in Saigon, left Vietnam in a hurry in 1975 before the age of 2, and was raised in Tumwater, Washington. He currently resides in Colorado.