Stephen Recca, MA
Program Director, Homeland Security
Colorado Springs, CO
International intelligence officer. Critical thinker. Content provider.
Education
- MA, National Security, Naval Postgraduate School (1990)
- BS, Economics, U.S. Naval Academy (1983)
Background
Stephen Recca is the Program Director for Homeland Security within CTU’s
Security Studies, and concurrently serves as the Deputy Director of the
University and Agency Partnership Initiative for the Naval Postgraduate School
(NPS) Center for Homeland Defense and Security. His previous positions include
security policy assignments with the Central Intelligence Agency, State
Department, Department of Defense, and in academia. From 1995-98, he served
as Special Assistant and Speechwriter for the Secretary of the Navy and the
Director of Central Intelligence. Following assignment to the U.S. Embassy in
Oslo, Recca held the Inman Intelligence Chair at NPS, and returned to Europe in
2003 to serve as the Defense Department’s Chief Liaison to the German Federal
Intelligence Service. From 2006 until April 2009, he directed the Center for
Homeland Security at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, where he
managed graduate and undergraduate education programs, applied research, and
an International Civil Security Seminar Program in partnership with the George C.
Marshall European Center for Security Studies.
Recca serves on the Advisory Boards for the Homeland Security and Emergency
Preparedness Institute at Marian University, and for the Emergency Management
and Homeland Security Program at the University of California, Los Angeles. He
is on the editorial review board for three peer-reviewed journals: Homeland
Security Affairs; Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy; and Journal of
Homeland Security Education.
Academic Specialization/Focus at CTU
Homeland Security
Why are YOU IN?
The most successful higher education programs nurture and enable critical
thinking. For homeland security, strengthening this skill is essential to
understanding the breadth of issues in securing the U.S., and to visualizing – and
solving – future challenges. Homeland security and the associated academic
discipline are so new that we are just now beginning to ask the right questions
about scope, content and context of this rapidly emerging field. These are the
areas where academia can and must take the lead. Our graduates’ ability to
think critically in stressful, potentially life-threatening environments is crucial. We
have to get it right – and it begins and is reinforced in the classroom.
Learn Stephen's CTU Story.
What is your teaching philosophy?
Graduate education must deliver both strong academic rigor and relevant
practical application, and these two elements are complementary and mutually
reinforcing. Content in a professional discipline should reflect the stated – and
unstated/as-yet-unknown – needs of end-users: government agencies, non- governmental organizations and the private sector. Consequently, content
continues to evolve in a dynamic process that requires insight into how and
where the discipline is changing, and flexibility in adjusting and delivering a
rigorous homeland security curriculum. In practical terms, the dynamic process
means a majority of course content – primarily readings, case studies, and
background material – is likely to change with each course iteration for the
foreseeable future. CTU’s agile course developers and teaching faculty, with rich
experience in homeland security professions and higher education, are the core
elements in delivering a highly successful curriculum.
Aside from higher education, what else are you passionate about?
I enjoy community engagement at all levels, riding anything on two wheels, and
strategic running.
Research interests
- Homeland Security
- International Security
- Intelligence and National Security