SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Francis X. Taylor has been named an executive fellow of the Global Policy Initiative in the new Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame.
Taylor is a Notre Dame graduate with bachelor’s (’70) and master’s (’74) degrees in government and international studies. He is a distinguished graduate of the Notre Dame Air Force ROTC program.
During 31 years of military service, Taylor served with distinction in numerous command and staff positions, rising to the rank of brigadier general in September 1996. In his final active duty assignment, he served as commander of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., from August 1998 to July 2001.
Taylor is a former vice president and chief security officer for General Electric Co. in Fairfield, Connecticut. Before joining GE, he had a distinguished, 35-year career in government service, holding several senior positions managing investigations, security and counterterrorism issues.
From 2014 to 2016, Taylor served as under-secretary for intelligence and analysis in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, where he also served as DHS counterterrorism coordinator. Additionally, he was U.S. Department of State ambassador-at-large and coordinator for counterterrorism from July 2001 to November 2002.
“General Taylor has served our country with distinction and understands government, business, the military, international relations and diplomacy from the inside,” said Scott Appleby, Marilyn Keough Dean of the Keough School.
“Not least, he is a loyal son of Notre Dame, who already has played a major role in connecting the Keough School to an impressive network of policymakers and government officials. We are honored and grateful that this distinguished American has agreed to join our leadership team.”
Taylor will serve as a lead instructor for a global policy seminar, teaching the inaugural cohort of 38 graduate students in the new Master of Global Affairs program. The course is offered as part of the Keough School’s Global Policy Initiative, which was founded to create new opportunities for engagement with policymaking institutions and programs in Washington, D.C., and around the world.
“I am thrilled to join the Keough School in developing the next generation of global leaders,” Taylor said. “It is an honor to return to Notre Dame to help our students prepare to serve as a force for good in our world.”
The Keough School of Global Affairs — founded in 2014 as Notre Dame’s first new degree-granting school or college in nearly 100 years — prepares new generations of students for skilled, effective and ethical global professional leadership.