Russell “Russ” Travers took office as the Acting Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) on December 24, 2017. He has served in a number of leadership positions within NCTC, including Deputy Director, Senior Counselor to the Director, Acting Director of the Office of Data Strategy and Innovation, and the Chief Data Officer for NCTC and ODNI.
Prior to returning to NCTC in 2015, Mr. Travers served for two years as the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Transnational Threat Integration and Information Sharing on the National Security Council (NSC). His focus at the NSC included government-wide improvements in border security and information sharing, and applying lessons learned from U.S. government counterterrorism efforts to other transnational threats. Prior to this assignment, he served from 2011 to 2013 as the Senior Executive for Transnational Organized Crime on the National Intelligence Council, where he was responsible for organizing Intelligence Community analytic support to the National Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime. Mr. Travers also served in an earlier tour with the National Security Council staff in 2010 when he was appointed by the President to run the interagency task force created to oversee the government’s response to the WikiLeaks disclosures.
Mr. Travers previously served on the leadership team that stood up the Terrorist Threat Integration Center and the National Counterterrorism Center. From 2003 to 2010 he was Deputy Director for Information Sharing and Knowledge Development, during which time he focused on post-9/11 improvements. Mr. Travers oversaw the development of the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, NCTC’s database of known and suspected terrorists, as well as improvements in watchlisting, information sharing and advanced analytic techniques.
He has also served tours as Deputy Director for Policy Support at the Defense Intelligence Agency; the Defense Intelligence Officer for General Purpose Forces; the Senior Civilian Advisor to the Director for Intelligence, J2, Joint Chiefs of Staff; and the Defense Intelligence Liaison to British Intelligence in London. He began his career as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army in 1978.
Mr. Travers received Bachelor of Arts degrees in government and economics from the College of William and Mary. He has a Master in Business Administration, and a Juris Doctor from the National Law Center at George Washington University. He has received numerous awards, including the Meritorious Executive Presidential Rank Award.
