Homeland Security Program

About Clark Ervin

Clark Kent Ervin is the Director of the Aspen Institute Homeland Security Program. He joined the Institute in 2005. Before doing so, he served as the first Inspector General of the United States Department of Homeland Security, from January, 2003 to December, 2004. Prior to his service at DHS, he served as the Inspector General of the United States Department of State and the Broadcasting Board of Governors, from August, 2001 to January, 2003. His service in the administration of President George W. Bush is preceded by his service as the Associate Director of Policy in the White House Office of National Service in the administration of President George H.W. Bush.

A native Houstonian, he served in the state government of Texas from 1995 to 2001, first as Assistant Secretary of State, and then as a Deputy Attorney General.

He has practiced law twice in the private sector, with the Houston based firms of Vinson & Elkins, and Locke, Liddell, & Sapp, respectively.

He earned a B.A. degree cum laude in Government from Harvard in 1980, an M.A. degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from Oxford University in 1982 as a Rhodes Scholar, and a J.D. degree cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1985.

In addition to his work at The Aspen Institute, Mr. Ervin is a member of the Wartime Contracting Commission on Iraq and Afghanistan.  He was appointed by Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to the Homeland Security Advisory Council. He has been an on-air analyst and contributor at CNN, where he focused on homeland security, national security, and intelligence issues, and he continues to appear as a guest commentator on that television network and other t.v. and radio networks. He is frequently cited as an expert on these matters by major national and international publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Time magazine, and The Economist. His opinion pieces have appeared in, among other papers, The New York Times and The Washington Post. His book on homeland security, titled, “Open Target: Where America is Vulnerable to Attack,” was published by the St. Martin’s Press imprint, Palgrave Macmillan, in May, 2006.

Mr. Ervin serves on the Board of Directors of Clear Path Technologies, Inc., an explosives detection company, and he is a consultant to a number of companies, mostly in the field of homeland security.  He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Asia Society, and the American Association of Rhodes Scholars.