About

John Tien previously served from 2021 to 2023 as the Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the third largest U.S. Federal cabinet department consisting of over 260,000 people and operating on a $105 billion budget. In his current portfolio, he serves as a corporate board director, non-profit board director, university professor of practice, research fellow, and public speaker. He serves on two Fortune 500 public corporate boards: Union Pacific Railroad (NYSE: UNP) and Science Applications International Corporation  (NASDAQ: SAIC). He serves on the board of trustees for the non-profit global aid organization, The President Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Center, whose mission is to wage peace, fight disease, and build hope. He is a founding board member of the U.S. military veterans non-profit, the Avalon Action Alliance, whose mission is to provide life-changing treatment to our nation’s veterans and first responders who suffer from traumatic brain injury (TBI), post-traumatic stress (PTS), and substance abuse (SA). As an academic, he holds dual appointments at the Georgia Institute of Technology as a Distinguished Professor of the Practice in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy. Also at Georgia Tech, he is a Distinguished External Fellow with the Strategic Energy Institute and the Georgia Tech Research Institute. He is also a Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. In addition to the Department of Homeland Security from 2021 to 2023, he also served in three other U.S. presidential administrations in the National Security Council and the Office of the United States Trade Representative. From 2011 to 2021, he held various senior leadership positions at Citigroup to include being the Chief Administrative Officer for Citi Global Consumer Operations and Technology and as Citi Retail Services' Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer for the Macy's American Express and private label credit cards. Earlier in his career, he was a United States Army officer, retiring at the rank of Colonel in 2011. From 2006-2007, he led an 1,100-soldier task force in combat in Iraq. His combat awards include the Bronze Star Medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Combat Action Badge, and the Valorous Unit Award. During his Army career, he served overseas for nearly a decade, taught political science at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and was a scout platoon leader in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. He is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He holds a Bachelor of Science from West Point and an Oxford Master of Arts from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He and his wife, Tracy, live in Atlanta where they are active supporters of civic organizations such as The High Museum of Art, Leadership Atlanta, and the World Affairs Council of Atlanta.