Thursday, 4:30 PM
Arab-American named to a state-level homeland security position
By Andrea Estes, GLOBE STAFF
Governor Deval Patrick named a Harvard lecturer who frequently appears on television as a terrorism analyst as the state’s new homeland security adviser Wednesday.
Juliette Kayyem, 37, will be the only Arab-American to hold a state-level homeland security position, according to a spokesman for the US Department of Homeland Security. She will also be one of a handful of women to hold such a job.
"It’s a tremendous opportunity," said Kayyem, who will serve as undersecretary of homeland security -- a position that previous administrations did not have. She will be paid $125,000 a year.
"This is not an easy job -- conceptually, it’s huge. And there are so many competing priorities," Kayyem said.
Kayyem, who has given up her teaching job and her position as a terrorism analyst for NBC News, said Patrick and Kevin Burke, the secretary of public safety, are committed to having one person coordinate all the homeland security functions of state government.
