Wilkes Alumnus and National Counterintelligence Executive Bill Evanina will return to campus as a guest lecturer on Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. in the Ballroom of the SUB.

Evanina’s lecture, entitled “Economic Espionage: Don’t Be A Victim,” will provide business owners and individuals with information on how to better protect themselves from this threat, discussing issues of cyber security and theft of personally identifiable information.

According to Cornell University, economic espionage is the “theft or misappropriation of a trade secret with the intent or knowledge that the offense will benefit any foreign government, foreign instrumentality, or foreign agent.”

Evanina currently serves as the head of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center for the U.S. government, one of the highest rankings possible. He is responsible for producing the National Threat Identification and Prioritization Assessment, producing and implementing the National Counterintelligence Strategy and conducting regular damage assessments.

Prior to this role, Evanina was chief of the CIA’s Counterespionage Group in the Counterintelligence Center, where he led personnel in an effort to identify and stop espionage related activities from foreign intelligence services.

Additionally, Evanina served 18 years with the FBI, working extensively with the Joint Terrorist Task Force after 9/11.

News media will have an opportunity to interview national counterintelligence executive William “Bill” Evanina in a Nov. 2 conference call at 1:30 p.m. To be part of the advance interview with Evanina, reporters should dial into the bridge line at 1-866-469-3239 and enter the Attendee Access Code: 94553785. Please confirm attendance prior to the call with Vicki Mayk, director of public relations, at 570-408-4779.

Evanina is a 1989 Wilkes graduate who majored in Public Administration. During his time there, he played for the baseball team and worked as a resident assistant in the former Pickering Hall. He graduated magna cum laude.

“I think it will be really beneficial for students to learn about what he does,” said Alumni Communication and Events manager Jacki Lukas, who organized the event. “It’s going to be eye opening for a lot of people because you don’t think about what he does on a daily basis, but that’s because he does a good job at it. If he wasn’t doing his job we wouldn’t be protected, we wouldn’t be safe.”

This event is open to the public and admission is free. If any students are interested in attending a luncheon with Evanina on Nov. 12, contact Jacki Lukas at [email protected].