Stephen E. Flynn

Dr. Stephen Flynn is Founding Director of the Global Resilience Institute at Northeastern University, leading a major university-wide research initiative to advance societal resilience in the face of growing human-made and naturally-occurring turbulence and, in 2014, was appointed by the Secretary of Homeland Security to serve as member of the Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory Council (HSSTAC). Dr. Flynn is also a Professor of Political Science with affiliated faculty appointments in the College of Engineering and the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, and Co-Director of the George J. Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security at Northeastern. Formerly, Dr. Flynn served as President of the Center for National Policy, Senior Fellow for National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, lead homeland security policy adviser for the Presidential Transition Team for President Barack Obama, and as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Coast Guard for 20 years.

He is co-author of the textbook, Critical Infrastructures Resilience: Policy and Engineering Principles (2018), and author of The Edge of Disaster: Rebuilding a Resilient Nation (Random House, 2007), and the national bestseller, America the Vulnerable (HarperCollins 2004). He also serves as Chair of the Massachusetts Port Authority Security Advisory Committee. Prof. Flynn holds M.A.L.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University and a B.S. from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.