Gary Ackerman

University of Maryland

Director for Special Projects

301.405.6656

M.A. Yale University, International Relations

Gary Ackerman is Director for Special Projects of START and is responsible for managing START research projects, exploring new avenues for research, and establishing collaborative research relationships with other institutions. Prior to taking up his current position at START, Mr. Ackerman held the post of Director of the Center for Terrorism and Intelligence Studies, a private research and analysis institute. He has also served as the Director of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism Research Program at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California, and Chief of Operations of the South Africa-based African-Asian Society. He received his M.A. in International Relations (Strategic Studies – Terrorism) from Yale University and his Bachelors (Law, Mathematics, International Relations) and Honors (International Relations) degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Originally hailing from South Africa, Mr. Ackerman possesses an eclectic academic background, including past studies in the fields of mathematics, history, law, and international relations, and has won numerous academic awards. His research encompasses various areas relating to terrorism and counterterrorism, including terrorist threat assessment, terrorist technologies and motivations, terrorism involving chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) weapons, terrorist financing, environmental extremism, and the modeling and simulation of terrorist behavior.