DEA chief Rosenberg speaks about battles on two fronts

Chuck Rosenberg, Acting Administrator for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), will speak on the Furman University campus Monday, Sept. 28, at 7:30 p.m. in Watkins Room of the Trone Student Center.

His talk, “Battling ISIS and al Qaeda abroad and Heroin Addiction at Home,” is free and open to the public, and is presented by Furman University’s Riley Institute.

In an effort to elevate conversation about these complex issues beyond political rhetoric, Rosenberg intends to build an understanding about the threat of ISIS and al Qaeda by explaining the evolution of the militant groups. Switching gears to address the war on drugs, Rosenberg will focus on the rising number of deaths related to heroin overdose in our nation.

Rosenberg was appointed Acting Administrator of the DEA in May 2015 by Attorney General Loretta Lynch. Prior to joining the DEA, Rosenberg served as the chief of staff and senior counselor to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey.

Rosenberg also served in several senior posts at the Department of Justice, where his work focused on counterterrorism, counterintelligence, national security, and criminal matters, including service as chief of staff to then Deputy Attorney General James Comey (2004-2005), counselor to Attorney General John Ashcroft (2003-2004), and counsel to FBI Director Robert Mueller (2002-2003).

Rosenberg was a partner at a Washington, D.C. law firm and prior to that, he served as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia (1994-2000), which is routinely entrusted with many of the nation’s most sensitive terrorism and national security prosecutions. As the chief federal law enforcement officer for the district, Rosenberg supervised the prosecution of all federal crimes and the litigation of all civil matters involving the federal government.

From June 2005 until March 2006, he served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, one of the largest districts in the nation with six offices, including one in Houston and three on the border of the United States and Mexico.

Rosenberg is a graduate of Tufts University (B.A.), Harvard University (M.P.P.), and the University of Virginia (J.D.).

For more information, contact Jill Fuson, Assistant Director of the Riley Institute at (864) 294-3280, or jill.fuson@furman.edu.