Expertise

Counterterrorism; security; diplomacy

At the Keough School

Francis X. Taylor is an executive fellow of the Keough School Global Policy Initiative  and an adjunct professor of the practice of global affairs at the University of Notre Dame. 

Courses

• Policy Lab: Peacebuilding, Conflict Stabilization and Counterterrorism in Fragile States
• Policy Lab: Global Challenges to the National Security of the United States

Biography

Taylor is a former vice president and chief security officer for General Electric Co. in Fairfield, Connecticut, and led GE’s recruitment efforts at Notre Dame. Before and after joining GE, he had a distinguished, thirty-eight-year career in government service, holding several senior positions managing investigations, security and counterterrorism issues.

From 2014 to 2017, Taylor served as Under Secretary, Office of Intelligence and Analysis in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where he also served as DHS counterterrorism coordinator. From July 2001 to March 2005,  he served in the U.S. Department of State as ambassador-at-large and coordinator for counterterrorism  and as Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security

During thirty-one years of military service, Taylor served with distinction in numerous command and staff positions, rising to the rank of brigadier general in September 1996. In his final active duty assignment, he served as commander of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

Taylor is a Notre Dame graduate with bachelor’s (’70) and master’s (’74) degrees in government and international studies. He is a distinguished graduate of the Notre Dame Air Force ROTC program.

News

• The straight and narrow (Notre Dame Magazine)