Correction appended

Frank Cilluffo, director of GW’s Homeland Security Policy Institute, will chair the first-ever U.S. Quadrennial Homeland Security Review to review the Department of Homeland Security’s priorities.

The review will look at challenges the country faces and assess the nation’s homeland security policies, programs, and missions,” according to the DHS Web site.

Cilluffo is working on this project in an advisory role independent of his role as director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at GW.

“The goal is to make sure that the hard questions are being asked. We advise others to make sense of the vast amounts of data. The reality is there isn’t an ending point, and it’s a learning process,” Cilluffo, who is an Elliott School alumnus, said.

The review was modeled after the Quadrennial Defense Review, conducted by the Defense Department. Both are mandated by Congress and will occur at the same time, said Cilluffo, who also serves as an associate vice president for the University.

“The two reviews are much more meaningful together,” Cilluffo said. “When they are aligned, the whole is much more coherent rather than when done in isolation.”

Norm Augustine, former chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin, and Dr. Ruth David, president and CEO of the Department of Homeland Security’s Federally Funded Research and Development Center, are Cilluffo’s co-chairs.

“We all have very different opinions, but that’s what makes this healthy and constructive,” Cilluffo said.

The project’s deadline is Dec. 31, which Cilluffo said is “tight,” but he added the review is already underway and many other think tanks and universities are providing input and advice.

The National Academy of Public Administration provides a way for the public to participate in the policy deliberations via an online forum. Cilluffo said he is not sure how useful the public’s contributions will be, but added that “the public has the most at stake. At least they have a chance to get their voices heard.”

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction (September 3, 2009): The Hatchet mistakenly identified two different governmental reviews. Cilluffo will lead the U.S. Quadrennial Homeland Security Review to assess the Department of Homeland Security’s direction and priorities. The story made an incorrect reference to the Quadrennial Defense Review, which began in 1996 and analyzes the Department of Defense’s priorities.</em<