Baker Institute terrorism expert available

David Ruth
713-348-6327
druth@rice.edu

Baker Institute terrorism expert available

Rice University terrorism expert Joan Neuhaus Schaan is available to comment on what U.S. officials have called a “specific, credible but unconfirmed” terror threat received just days before the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Neuhaus Schaan, who is a fellow in homeland security and terrorism at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, served from 2004 to 2009 as the executive director of the Houston-Harris County Regional Homeland Security Advisory Council. From 2002 to 2004, she was mobilized to active duty for Operation Noble Eagle/Enduring Freedom and was deployed to U.S. Northern Command’s Operational Intelligence Watch in Colorado. At the conclusion of her tour, she was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal and authorized to wear the Joint Chiefs of Staff insignia.

Prior to mobilization, Neuhaus Schaan served as the project coordinator for the Houston Task Force on Terrorism and led the assessment of Houston’s terrorism response mechanisms. Her first involvement in the field of terrorism and homeland security came as an officer with the United States Naval Reserve, when she became an anti-terrorism training officer for her squadron and was responsible for the force protection briefings for deployments to the Americas and Pacific. She was appointed to the Texas Commission on Private Security by Gov. George W. Bush in 1999 and later reappointed by Gov. Rick Perry.

To speak with Neuhaus Schaan, contact David Ruth, director of national media relations at Rice University, at druth@rice.edu or 713-348-6327.