James Gagliano, Director
Independent voting member March 2020- Present

James A. Gagliano currently serves as a law enforcement analyst and policing methodology subject matter expert for CNN, where he provides on-air analyses of complex law enforcement and counterterror matters. An adjunct assistant professor and doctoral candidate at St. John’s University in Queens, NY, he is a sought-after speaker on criminal justice, homeland security and organizational leadership matters, and delivers keynote addresses for corporate clients and in academic settings.

Prior to joining CNN, Gagliano served 25 years with the FBI. During his career with FBI, he was appointed to a variety of investigative, tactical resolution, crisis management, undercover, mid-level and senior management positions, including assignment to the FBI’s elite counterterror unit, the Hostage Rescue Team (HRT), and as the Senior Team Leader of the FBI New York Field Division’s SWAT Team. During the Global War on Terrorism, between 2002 and 2003, he deployed to Afghanistan three separate times in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He was awarded FBI’s second highest award for valor, the Medal of Bravery, for his SWAT Team’s actions in June of 1993. In one of his final FBI assignments, he studied Spanish language at US State Department, then served as the deputy legal attaché and acting legal attaché at the United States Embassy in México City, México, prior to retiring in 2016.

A 1987 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and US Army veteran, he was commissioned as an Infantry Officer, serving as a light infantry platoon leader and company executive officer in the 10th Mountain Division, while stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia and Fort Drum, New York between 1988 and 1991.

Mr. Gagliano and his wife, Tiffany, Dean of the School of Business at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, NY, have five children between them and reside in upstate New York.