Last modified: Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Commander of NORAD and NORTHCOM to speak at IU homeland security conference
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 27, 2009
INDIANAPOLIS -- Gen. Gene Renuart will be the keynote speaker for a free, day-long Indiana University conference, "Safeguarding America through Homeland Defense," taking place Feb. 4 at the University Place Conference Center at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
Renuart, an IU graduate and a 37-year member of the Air Force, is commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM).
Gen. Gene Renuart
The conference is presented by the Executive Education Program of the IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI and the Indiana University Center for American and Global Security. It is designed for public safety professionals, government and military officials, medical personnel and others who work in the areas of security, homeland defense and emergency management.
Renuart entered the Air Force in 1971, after earning a bachelor's degree from IU Bloomington. He served as commander of the 76th Fighter Squadron during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm and has served as director of operations for U.S. Central Command, overseeing planning and execution for operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Prior to assuming his current position, Renuart was senior military assistant to the Secretary of Defense in Washington, D.C.
"He is a major player in the defense of the United States," said Jim White, clinical lecturer in the SPEA Public Safety Management program at IUPUI and an organizer of the conference. "He is charged with defending the U.S. and also with lending assistance to local officials in emergency management."
The conference also will feature sessions on new developments in global terrorism, corporate security, cybersecurity and its relationship to homeland security,and Indiana's response to the tornadoes and floods in the summer of 2008.
Speakers will include Sam Nunn, director of the Center for Criminal Justice Research with the IU Public Policy Institute; Brig. Gen. Cliff Tooley, commanding general, Muscatatuck Center for Complex Operations, Indiana National Guard; Mike Russo, deputy director of global security for Eli Lilly & Company; Fred Cate, distinguished professor at the IU Maurer School of Law -- Bloomington and director of the IU Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research; and Joseph Wainscott, director of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. John Graham, dean of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, will provide opening remarks.
The conference is free but space is limited. For more information, including online registration, see https://execedspea.iu.edu/register/Homeland_Info2.asp.
