The CDC Leaders

"There are thousands hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root."

- Henry David Thoreau

William T. (Bill) Porter, JD

Director, Office of Security and Emergency Preparedness

As the director of the Office of Security and Emergency Preparedness (OSEP), William Porter´s responsibilities include "safeguarding the science" and those who conduct it by providing the CDC with the professional protection necessary in a post ´9/11´ world. The office´s mission is to provide the strategic and tactical leadership necessary to protect the agency´s mission from the inside out. OSEP is also responsible for the planning and execution of the Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) and provides oversight and assistance to CDC Select Agent compliance program. OSEP responsibilities also include physical security, personnel suitability, counter intelligence and intelligence activities, and Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF), Communications, and Homeland Security functions. The office serves as the agency's primary link to federal, state and local law enforcement, intelligence and emergency planning and response activities.

Prior to the advent of ´9/11´, CDC´s security posture consisted only of a physical security component, which was inadequate in the post 9-11 world. The first task he faced as director of the new office was to identify and articulate what the new security structure for CDC should be. The second was to identify, recruit, and hire a well qualified and experienced security staff.

Mr. Porter came to CDC in November 1979 as the chief of Real Property and Space Management and served in this capacity until 2000. He was then selected as Director of OSEP.

Prior to coming to CDC, Porter served as Assistant Federal Buildings Manager in Charleston, S.C. and Realty Specialist with the General Services Administration (GSA). He received his Bachelors in Business Administration from North Georgia College and State University and his Jurist Doctor degree from Woodrow Wilson College of Law. He is a U.S Army veteran and spent five years on active duty including a tour in Viet Nam. He continued to serve in a reserve capacity until his retirement in 1994, at Fort Benning, Georgia. During his military career he served with the 101st Airborne Division (Viet Nam) and with the United States Army Special Forces 10th and 11th Groups. At the time of his retirement, he was serving as the Operational Detachment's (ODA 322), Intelligence and Operations sergeant, at the rank of Master Sergeant (E-8).

His wife Diane is the Deputy Director for Management in NIOSH, and the couple have three children.