SAN ANGELO, Texas — Jonathan Fantini Porter, a former national security official during the Obama administration, will be the featured speaker for the 2020 E. James Holland-Roy A. Harrell Jr. Foreign Affairs Speakers Program Tuesday, March 3, in the Angelo State University Houston Harte University Center, 1910 Rosemont Drive.
Porter’s presentation, “Leading in a Globalized World,” begins at 6 p.m. in the University Center’s C.J. Davidson Conference Center. The presentation is free and open to the public.
Now a global management consultant, Porter advanced national policy in the Executive Office of the President during the Obama administration, focusing on national security efforts, including strategic planning and inter-agency coalitions to counter transnational criminal organizations.
Prior to joining the White House executive staff, Porter was with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, where he served as chief of staff for management of the department’s primary investigative branch. In that role, he was involved in a number of leading national security efforts in counter-terrorism, customs and export enforcement, cyber security and immigration, among others. He also oversaw management of a $6 billion budget and 22,000 personnel in 48 countries.
Porter also previously served as a senior congressional staffer in both chambers of the U.S. Congress. In the House of Representatives, he specialized in security and economic policy as policy director to a member of the House Armed Services Committee. In the Senate, he supported senior members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pension.
Porter serves on the advisory board for U.S. office of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), as an associate fellow of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, England, and as a member of the Brookings Institution’s Brookings Society. He is also a volunteer mentor for the youth development nonprofit organization, YearUp.
Among his many honors and awards, Porter has received commendations from the U.S. Congress, California Assembly and Republic of Panama National Police, and others. He was recognized by Forbes Magazine as a leader in public policy and named a Truman Scholar at the Truman National Security Project.
Porter received his bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University with a concentration in international affairs and a Master of Public Administration degree from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
The E. James Holland-Roy A. Harrell Jr. Foreign Affairs Speakers Program is dedicated to providing ASU students and the community with a broader worldview and exposing students to potential career opportunities in the Foreign Service. The program is sponsored by the ASU College of Arts and Humanities
