The College of Criminal Justice works to connect alumni and students in meaningful ways, including their “Real Talk” program. This program brings alumni to campus to meet and speak with students, while highlighting the alum’s current job. Last week, the featured speaker was Adam Lee, who received his master’s degree in Homeland Security from SHSU, and he spoke about the ever-growing importance of emergency management and how students can enter that line of work. (You can watch the program here.)
Lee currently works for Memorial Hermann Health System as the Director of Emergency Management and Organizational Resilience but has experience with the public sector of security. His experience includes working as Assistant Emergency Management Coordinator for League City, TX (a position he held in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey) and for SouthEast Texas Regional Advisory Council (SETRAC). He held the latter position when COVID descended upon the world.
While both of these emergencies were, in some sense unprecedented, the larger lesson is that emergencies, almost by definition, occur unexpectedly. Even when such events are expected, they may have unexpected outcomes or arrive in an unexpected scale. So, planners and responders will always be needed, and that is especially true in Texas.
Currently, Lee works for Memorial Hermann, and in this role he has focused on a new type of threat: cyberattacks. When you think of the technology that goes into hospital, and the pressing and urgent role they play in keeping people alive, it takes little imagination to think of what a power outage or wide-scale hacking episode could do to a hospital.
Whatever one’s goals within the field of emergency planning and security, Lee suggests networking (such as attending University events!) and education. Unlike much in the world today, the field of emergency planning has a real need for generalists or, as he said, “knowledge a mile wide and an inch deep” and to be a lifelong learner.
Lee threw out the names of free and inexpensive learning tools for emergency preparedness such as PreparingTexas.org and the Center Domestic Preparedness to increase your education. CourseRa also has free (or low cost) emergency management as well, and of course CJ has many courses that will benefit a student looking to enter this field.
And, true to his own advice, he stayed around after–sharing his knowledge and networks with students.
Center for Law, Engagement, and Politics 