Jeh Johnson, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, will deliver a Landon Lecture at 10 a.m.Wednesday, May 27, at Kansas State University’s McCain Auditorium. A news release was issued by K-State’s News and Communications Service regarding the lecture early Monday morning.
“Secretary Johnson’s visit to Kansas State University is timely as construction of the Department of Homeland Security’s National Bio and Agro-defense Facility gets underway this summer adjacent to campus,” said Jackie Hartman, the university’s chief of staff and director of community relations. “NBAF will be the nation’s premiere foreign animal disease research lab, and we look forward to hearing about the role it will play in helping DHS keep the U.S. homeland secure.”
Johnson became the nation’s fourth secretary of homeland security on Dec. 23, 2013. Before joining DHS, Johnson served as general counsel for the Department of Defense, where he was part of the senior management team and led the more than 10,000 military and civilian lawyers across the department. In this role, he oversaw the development of the legal aspects of many of the nation’s counterterrorism policies, spearheaded reforms to the military commissions system at Guantanamo Bay in 2009, and co-authored the 250-page report that paved the way for the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law in 2010.
Johnson’s career has included extensive service in national security, law enforcement and as an attorney in private corporate law practice. He served as general counsel of the Department of the Air Force from 1998 to 2001, and was an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1989 to 1991.
In private law practice, Johnson was a partner with the New York City-based law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. In 2004, he was elected a fellow in the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers. He also is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
A 1979 graduate of Morehouse College, Johnson earned his law degree from Columbia Law School in 1982.
