Christine Abizaid

Abizaid earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from the University of California, San Diego and a Master of Arts in international policy studies from Stanford University.

Abizaid has worked as a counterterrorism intelligence official in the Defense Intelligence Agency and on the United States National Security Council. During the Obama administration, she served as a senior policy advisor and assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism.[1] In 2014, she became the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia. She later managed the Defense Innovation Unit in Austin, Texas before joining Dell in 2017. She was nominated in 2021 by President Joe Biden to serve as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center and was confirmed by the Senate on June 24, 2021 by a voice vote.[2][3]

Abizaid, a Lebanese American is the daughter of John Abizaid, a retired United States Army general who served as Commander of the U.S. Central Command during the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, and diplomat, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia under President Donald Trump.[4]