1. Frances M "Fran" Fragos Townsend was born on December 28,1961 and is an American lawyer and business executive who served as Homeland Security Advisor to United States President George W Bush from 2004 to 2007, and was formerly the executive vice president for corporate affairs, corporate secretary, and compliance chief officer for Activision Blizzard, until September 2022, due to Microsoft acquiring Blizzard for $75 billion.
Frances Townsend previously served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism.
In 2008, Townsend joined CNN as a contributor, but later switched over to CBS where she is a national security analyst for them.
Frances Townsend received her JD from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1984.
Frances Townsend began her prosecutorial career in 1985, serving as an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn, New York.
Frances Townsend gained the support and mentorship of federal prosecutors Rudolph Giuliani and Louis Freeh.
Frances Townsend ran the office's organized crime unit, where she conducted one-on-one interviews with members of the Gambino crime family.
Frances Townsend moved to the Justice Department in the early 1990s to work on international legal matters.
Frances Townsend served as Director of the Office of International Affairs in the Criminal Division from November 1995 until November 1997, when she was appointed Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General.
Frances Townsend was appointed Counsel for Intelligence Policy in March 1998, heading the office of Intelligence Policy and Review, whose various functions included approving intelligence-gathering activities related to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Frances Townsend managed the Justice Department's Office of Intelligence Policy and Review until 2001.
Frances Townsend was one of Reno's key advisers, acting as a "back channel" between the attorney general and FBI Special Agent John P O'Neill, who was her friend.
Frances Townsend was appointed Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism on May 28,2004.
Frances Townsend served as the public face of the Bush administration while it was under criticism for allegedly overreacting to dated intelligence in its decision to raise terrorist threat levels during an election season.
Frances Townsend inspected Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison as an envoy of President Bush.
Frances Townsend was tapped to implement broad changes in the intelligence community recommended by a presidential commission headed by former Senator Chuck Robb and US District Judge Laurence Silberman.
In 2014, Frances Townsend became the President of the Counter Extremism Project, an organization devoted to fighting global extremism, including a program that studies the digital strategy of groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria in an effort to combat their success at spreading propaganda online.
In November 2016, the UAE Ambassador to the United States Yousef Al Otaiba recommended through real estate investor and Trump ally Thomas Barrack that Frances Townsend become President Donald Trump's Director of National Intelligence or Secretary of Homeland Security.
In May 2017, Frances Townsend was on the short list for the Director of the FBI following James Comey's firing.
In March 2021, Frances Townsend joined Activision Blizzard as executive vice president for corporate affairs, corporate secretary, and chief compliance officer to oversee government affairs, public policy, and communications.
Frances Townsend was previously appointed to the US President's Intelligence Advisory Board.
Frances Townsend is a director on the boards of Chubb and Freeport McMoRan.
Frances Townsend currently serves on the boards of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission, and the International Republican Institute.