Thiel, Harvin Join Emergency Management, Homeland Security Program

This fall saw the addition of two new instructors joining the faculty of the Emergency Management and Homeland Security program at the Schar School. The program offers certificates for those interested in furthering or starting careers in policy, planning, security, and organizational and management issues related to emergency preparedness at federal, state, and local levels.

• Adam Thiel is the former deputy secretary of public safety and homeland security for the Commonwealth of Virginia (2014-16) where he led a department of 30,000 employees and an annual budget of $3.1 billion. Thiel, a 2000 graduate of the Schar School’s Master’s in Public Administration program, is currently the fire commissioner and director of the Office of Emergency Management for the city of Philadelphia. He is responsible for leading the Philadelphia Fire Department’s 3,000-plus uniformed and civilian members in addressing every facet of protecting the sixth-largest city in the U.S.



• Donell Harvin, former chief of homeland security and intelligence for the District of Columbia is a senior policy researcher at the Rand Corp. He also instructs in the Master’s in Public Administration and Biodefense Graduate programs. In his more than 30 years in the field, Harvin has developed expertise in domestic intelligence and information sharing, planning and response to terrorism, and countering weapons of mass destruction.

“The addition of these two accomplished ‘pracademic’ instructors is a fantastic opportunity for students to confer with and learn from experts who are in the thick of headline news and knowledgeable with up-to-the-minute policy issues in the course of their regular work,” said Bonnie Stabile, associate dean of student and academic affairs at the Schar School. 

—Buzz McClain