Julia Nesheiwat Explained

Julia Nesheiwat
Office:10th United States Homeland Security Advisor
President:Donald Trump
Term Start:February 20, 2020
Term End:January 20, 2021
Predecessor:Peter J. Brown
Successor:Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall
Birth Place:Carmel, New York, U.S.
Education:Stetson University (BA)
Georgetown University (MA)
Tokyo Institute of Technology (PhD)
Spouse:Michael Waltz[1]
Children:1[2]
Relatives:Jaclyn Stapp (sister)
Party:Republican
Allegiance: United States
Unit:Military Intelligence Corps
Rank: Captain
Serviceyears:1997–2005
Battles:War in Afghanistan
Iraq War

Julia Nesheiwat is an American national security adviser who served as the 10th homeland security advisor in the Trump administration from 2020 to 2021.[3] She also served in the Bush and Obama administrations.

Early life and education

The daughter of Jordanian Christian immigrant parents, Nesheiwat is one of five children; she was raised in Umatilla, Florida.[4] Nesheiwat earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Stetson University, a Master of Arts from Georgetown University, and a PhD from the Tokyo Institute of Technology.[5] [6] She is the sister of Jaclyn Stapp.

Career

Army service

Commissioning in 1997, Nesheiwat served as a U.S. Army military intelligence officer, leaving the Army as a captain.[3] She served consecutive deployments for which she was awarded the Bronze Star Medal in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. She subsequently served at senior levels on a White House commission, in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and in numerous senior economic and national security roles in the State Department spanning the Bush, Obama, and Trump Administrations.[7]

Academics

After earning her doctorate in science and engineering, Dr. Nesheiwat lectured on the geopolitics of energy, climate, and technology in the 21st century at Naval Postgraduate School’s National Security Affairs Department, Stanford University, and at the University of California, San Diego.

Government service

Nesheiwat was an international affairs fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations and served on the Governing Advisory Council for the World Economic Forum. Nesheiwat also served on the Governing Advisory Council for Clean Energy at the World Economic Forum and was appointed as deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of Energy Resources. She also served as the energy policy advisor in the department’s economic bureau, was the ex officio committee member for the Florida Ocean Alliance, as well as appointed as the Global Ambassador by the World Green Building Council.[8] [9]

Nesheiwat was involved in efforts to keep families informed and win the release of U.S. citizens held hostage on foreign soil, through a new office partnered with Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell which combines resourced from the Defense and State Department, the Central Intelligence Agency, and Treasury Department. Nesheiwat served as the former U.S. Deputy Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs from August 2015 to August 2019.[10] [11]

In August 2019, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had appointed Nesheiwat as the state's first chief resilience officer.[12] [13] Florida is only the third state (joining Rhode Island and Oregon)[14] [15] to have "designated resilience offices with clear executives that report directly to the governor."[16] In this role, she was tasked with preparing Florida for the “environmental, physical and economic impacts” of sea level rise, confirmed by a 2014 national climate assessment.[17] Nesheiwat has supported the scientific consensus on climate change and its impact on the state of Florida.[18] [19] Nesheiwat is serving as a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council also focused on energy, climate, arctic policy, and national security[20] and was appointed as US Commissioner on the US Arctic Research Commission.[21]

Homeland security advisor

On February 20, 2020, Politico reported that President Donald Trump would select Nesheiwat to be his new homeland security advisor, according to an administration official and another person familiar with the matter." Robert C. O'Brien later confirmed Nesheiwat's appointment, praising her as a person who has "extensive national security experience, which will be invaluable for this important role."[22]

Notes and References

  1. News: Schorsch . Peter . Sunburn — The morning read of what's hot in Florida politics — 9.17.21 . 3 March 2022 . Florida Politics . Extensive-Enterprise . September 17, 2021.
  2. News: Fineout . Gary . Ready to rumble: 5 big questions for the 2022 session . 3 March 2022 . Politico . Politico LLC . January 11, 2022.
  3. News: Lippman. Daniel. Trump to tap Florida official as homeland security adviser. February 20, 2020. Politico. February 22, 2020. Meridith McGraw contributed to this report..
  4. https://issuu.com/stetsonu/docs/stetson-magazine-33-3 Stetson Magazine, Fall 2017
  5. Web site: Julia Nesheiwat. United States Department of State. en-US. 2019-10-03.
  6. Web site: Resume [redacted] - Julia Nesheiwat, PhD]. Nesheiwat. Julia. Ron DeSantis - 46th Governor of Florida. February 18, 2020.
  7. Web site: Change and Continuity in American Leadership. 2019-10-03. 2019-10-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20191003230007/http://www.osgoodcenter.org/PDF/January-2019-Week-Two-Official-Schedule.pdf. dead.
  8. Web site: Campaign Ambassadors. World Green Building Council. en. 2019-10-03.
  9. Web site: Julia Nesheiwat. World Geothermal Congress 2020 Reykjavik. en-CA. 2019-10-03. 2019-10-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20191003230005/https://www.wgc2020.com/team/julia-nesheiwat/. dead.
  10. Web site: 'Chase Your Dreams' – Stetson Today. www.stetson.edu. 10 August 2017 . en-US. 2019-10-17.
  11. News: The Trump administration is working to free American hostages in Iran. The Washington Post.
  12. Web site: Ron DeSantis tackling climate change with 'Chief Resilience Officer'. 7 May 2019 .
  13. Web site: Governor Ron DeSantis Announces Dr. Julia Nesheiwat as Florida's First Chief Resilience Officer. en-US. 2019-10-03.
  14. Web site: September 15, 2017. Press Release: Raimondo Signs Executive Order Outlining Rhode Island's Action Plan to Stand Up to Climate Change. 2020-02-18. Rhode Island - Office of the Governor. en.
  15. Web site: State of Oregon: Policy Offices - Resilience. 2020-02-19. www.oregon.gov. 2020-02-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20200219020945/https://www.oregon.gov/gov/policy/Pages/resilience.aspx. dead.
  16. Web site: American Flood Coalition welcomes Florida's new Chief Resilience Officer and applauds Governor DeSantis - American Flood Coalition. floodcoalition.org. 2020-02-19.
  17. Web site: Florida squarely in cross-hairs of climate change, new report says (w/video). www.tampabay.com. 2019-10-03.
  18. Web site: Florida's resilience boss says right stuff on climate change. Now let's act.. www.tampabay.com. 2019-10-03.
  19. Web site: Florida Senate committee addresses climate change, sustainability head-on. Ogles. Jacob. 2019-10-15. Florida Politics. en-US. 2019-10-17.
  20. Web site: 2021-05-12. US Arctic Research Commission Commissioner Dr. Julia Nesheiwat Joins Atlantic Council Global Energy Center as a Distinguished Fellow. 2021-06-16. Atlantic Council. en-US.
  21. Web site: About US Arctic Research Commission. 2021-09-29. en-US.
  22. Web site: "Excited to welcome Dr. Julia Nesheiwat, who will serve as Deputy Assistant to the President working on Homeland Security and Resilience. She comes with extensive national security experience, which will be invaluable for this important role." - NSA O'Brien. NSC. 2020-02-21. @WHNSC. en. 2020-02-22.