Hon. William R. Evanina

William R. Evanina is a national security and counterintelligence professional with more than three decades of federal service focused on protecting the United States from foreign espionage and intelligence threats. Evanina served over 31 years in federal service, including 24 years as a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Early in his law enforcement career, he investigated organized crime and violent crimes through the FBI Newark Field Office, served on an FBI SWAT unit for 10 years—eventually supervising the unit—and participated in high-profile terrorism investigations, including the 9/11 attacks, the anthrax attacks, and the Daniel Pearl kidnapping. While with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, Evanina was selected as a supervisory special agent and received the FBI Director's Award for Excellence for his leadership in the investigation into convicted spy Leandro Argoncillo.

Evanina was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the first Senate-confirmed director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center. In this role, he led and supported counterintelligence and security activities across the U.S. intelligence community, government, and at-risk private-sector entities. Prior to his selection as director of the NCSC, Evanina served as chief of the Central Intelligence Agency's Counterespionage Group and as assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Washington Field Office, leading operations in both the Counterintelligence and Counterterrorism Divisions.

At the NCSC, Evanina oversaw programs such as the National Insider Threat Task Force, personnel security and background investigations, information technology protection standards and compliance, counterintelligence cyber operations, and supply chain risk management. He led the development of the U.S. President's National Counterintelligence Strategy of the United States of America, which raised awareness of foreign intelligence threats to critical infrastructure sectors and private-sector executives. Evanina also chaired the National Counterintelligence Policy Board and the Allied Security and Counterintelligence Forum, which includes senior counterintelligence and security leaders from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, and served as chair of the NATO Counterintelligence Panel. During his tenure, Evanina became a public voice on foreign threats to American democracy, issuing warnings about efforts by China, Russia, and Iran to influence U.S. elections.

After leaving government service, Evanina founded the Evanina Group, where he advises CEOs and boards of directors on strategic corporate risk and provides strategic risk consultation services to senior decision makers in sectors such as energy, financial services, telecommunications, biomedical, technology, private equity, national security, and retail. He serves on multiple advisory boards and is an instructor at the University of Chicago Graham School. Evanina has also served as a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. His career spans the FBI, CIA, and the highest levels of the U.S. intelligence community, providing expertise in counterintelligence, cybersecurity, and global security threats.