Former Secretary of Homeland Security
Michael Chertoff is an American attorney who was the second United States Secretary of Homeland Security to serve under President George W. Bush. From 2005 to 2009, he served as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. He was the co-author of the USA PATRIOT Act. Michael Chertoff co-chairs BPC’s Immigration Task Force. He is also the co-founder and executive chairman of The Chertoff Group, a global advisory firm that provides high-level strategic counsel to corporate and government leaders on a broad range of security issues, from risk identification and prevention to preparedness, response, and recovery.
Before heading up the Department of Homeland Security, Chertoff served as a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. In addition to his role at The Chertoff Group, Chertoff is senior of counsel at Covington & Burling LLP, and a member of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations practice group.
Chertoff is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College (1975) and Harvard Law School (1978).