Lessons learned in my national security and intelligence career: What TV shows like Homeland won't tell you
Date & Time: February 18, 2019 | 09:00 PM – July 16, 2024 | 11:15 PM
Location: Sutliff Auditorium
The School of International Affairs is excited to welcome Dr. Jenifer Smith to the Lewis Katz Building as a guest speaker. Her talk, entitled "Lessons learned in my national security and intelligence career: What TV shows like Homeland won't tell you," will focus on her more than three decades of experience in forensic science, intelligence, and national security, including 23 years as a special agent with the FBI. This event is free and open to the public.
In 2015, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser named Dr. Smith to lead the Department of Forensic Sciences (DFS). Smith is a nationally recognized leader in forensic science, with experience working at the highest levels of the federal government. Her background combines strong scientific knowledge of forensics, a background in law enforcement, and experience as an expert witness on forensic findings.
Smith retired from the FBI after a 23-year career as a special agent. She oversaw DNA analysis at the FBI laboratory, where she implemented numerous methods and testified in hundreds of cases. Smith was a member of the US Government Senior Executive Service and supervised the Weapons of Mass Destruction Intelligence Analysis Section of the FBI. From 2002-2006, Smith led the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) Biological Technology Center, and from 1995-2002 she served as the unit chief of the DNA Analysis Unit at the FBI Laboratory.
Following her retirement from the FBI, Smith became the principal of Bioforensics Consulting and in 2010 she joined the faculty at Penn State University as a professor in the Forensic Science Program in the Eberly College of Science. She left this position in 2015 to become the director of DFS. She is currently a member of the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD) and of the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM). Smith holds a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry from Pennsylvania State University, a Ph.D. in physiological chemistry from Ohio State University and she participated in postdoctorate research at Harvard University.