Assistant Vice President for Homeland Security
and
Deputy Director, Homeland Security Policy Institute
The George Washington University
E-mail: dankan@gwu.edu
Publications & Media Appearances
Dr. Daniel J. Kaniewski is Assistant Vice President for Homeland Security and Deputy Director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute (HSPI) at The George Washington University. Kaniewski re-joined HSPI in August 2008 after spending three years on the White House staff, most recently as Special Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Senior Director for Response Policy.
Soon after joining the White House staff in July 2005, he witnessed first hand the failed response to Hurricane Katrina. He then served as a co-author and editor of the White House report The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned. Following the publication of this report, he worked to improve the nation's response capabilities and advised the President and White House senior staff during domestic incidents (including both man-made and natural disasters). He chaired the Domestic Readiness Group at the White House; managed the Presidential Disaster Declaration process; oversaw the development and approval of the National Response Framework and National Incident Management System; and traveled with the President aboard Air Force One to disaster sites around the country.
Kaniewski’s current research interests include incident management, emergency management, and the homeland security policymaking process. He co-chairs the HSPI Preparedness, Response, and Resilience Task Force with former FEMA Administrator David Paulison and former New York official Michael Balboni. His op-ed “Not Your Father’s FEMA” appeared in The Washington Times and he testified before Congress regarding FEMA reforms. At the change in Presidential administrations he was profiled in The Chronicle of Higher Education article "Mr. Professor Goes to Washington." He also served as a member of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expert panel examining plans for interdisciplinary response to terrorist use of explosives and contributed to a CDC document on surge capacity in terrorist bombings.
Prior to his White House service, Dr. Kaniewski co-founded HSPI and served as its first Deputy Director from October 2002 to July 2005. Earlier in his career he was a Congressional Liaison for Terrorism Preparedness and Consequence Management at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Prior to 9/11, Kaniewski served as a Homeland Security Fellow to members of the U.S. House of Representatives where he conducted research on congressional coordination for homeland security. He proposed a House Select Committee on Homeland Security in June 2001 and subsequently published his findings. The House Select Committee on Homeland Security became a reality on June 19, 2002 with the adoption of H. Res. 449 during the 107th Congress. He continues to speak about and write on the need for congressional coordination for homeland security, with multiple op-eds on the topic having been featured in such publications as Roll Call and The Washington Times.
Earlier in his career, he utilized his experience as a firefighter and paramedic to assist policymakers as Emergency Medical Services Advisor to the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI), a non-profit organization dedicated to educating members of Congress on fire and EMS issues. Dr. Kaniewski remains active with the organization, as a member of the CFSI National Advisory Committee.
Kaniewski has appeared on national television and radio outlets including NBC News, ABC News, NPR, Fox News, C-SPAN, and PBS, and has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Reuters, USA Today, The Washington Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Roll Call, and Congressional Quarterly.
Kaniewski holds a Bachelor of Science degree magna cum laude in Emergency Medical Services from The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, a Master of Arts degree in National Security Studies from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration from The George Washington University.
