The Honorable Frances Fragos Townsend, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, Homeland Security Council

The Honorable Frances Fragos Townsend is Assistant to the President for Homeland Security. In this capacity, she chairs the Homeland Security Council and reports to the President on United States homeland security policy and combating terrorism matters. Previously, she was Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism. Ms. Townsend came to the White House from the U.S. Coast Guard where she was Assistant Commandant for Intelligence. Prior to that, she served 13 years at the U. S. Department of Justice in such senior positions as: Counsel to the Attorney General for Intelligence Policy, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, and Director, Office of International Affairs, the Criminal Division. In 1988, she joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York where she focused on international organized crime and white-collar crime cases. In 1991, she worked in the Office of the Attorney General to assist in establishing the newly created Office of International Programs, the predecessor to the Executive Office for National Security.

Ms. Townsend received a B.A. and an B.S. from American University, and a J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law.