*Please note that this event is CLOSED to the press.

Introduction

Mr. Todd M. Keil was appointed in December 2009 by President Barack Obama to serve as the Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. His office is responsible for protecting the assets of the United States essential to the nation's security, public health and safety, economic vitality, and way of life. These assets, referred to as critical infrastructure and key resources, are divided into 18 separate sectors, as diverse as agriculture and food, emergency services, and critical manufacturing.

Mr. Keil brings to the national infrastructure protection mission more than 22 years of experience in global security operations and management, intelligence and law enforcement, and threat assessment and risk mitigation. His recent experience in private industry includes senior consulting in risk mitigation, executive and facility security, and worldwide threat management.

Prior to entering private industry in 2007, Mr. Keil held several key positions at the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, including Regional Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs, where he championed protection of U.S. government facilities, personnel, and national security information. His responsibilities included oversight of criminal investigations, security training, and managing risks from terrorist, criminal, and intelligence threats at 56 U.S. embassies and consulates in the Western Hemisphere, including the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.

In Foreign Service positions in Indonesia, Ireland, and Austria, he provided a broad range of security and law enforcement management and risk mitigation expertise, while advising U.S. ambassadors and in primary liaison roles with a wide network of global law enforcement, intelligence, and counter-intelligence agencies. From 1994 to 2000, he held a leadership position on the protective detail that provided personal protection for two Secretaries of State.

Mr. Keil’s unique blend of field and high-level management skills and contacts, combined with his expertise in law enforcement, threat and risk assessment and mitigation, and applying business best practices to everyday government operations, is an asset to the Department and the mission to protect and build resiliency for the Nation’s highly diverse critical infrastructure and key resources.

Mr. Keil holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Criminal Justice from Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin. He has also studied at the University of Bonn in Germany and the American University in Washington, D.C. His professional memberships include the Fraternal Order of Police, the American Foreign Service Association, and the American Society for Industrial Security.

Mr. Keil is a native of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, where he attended Wayland Academy.