Gov. Tom Ridge

The Honorable Tom Ridge is Chairman of Ridge Global. He provides clients with solutions to
cyber security, international security and risk management issues. Following the tragic events of
September 11th, 2001, Tom Ridge became the first Assistant to the President for Homeland
Security and, on January 24, 2003, became the first Secretary of the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security. The creation of the country’s 15th Cabinet Department marked the largest
reorganization of government since the Truman administration and another call to service for the
former soldier, congressman and governor of Pennsylvania.

During his DHS tenure, Secretary Ridge worked with more than 180,000 employees from a
combined 22 agencies to create an agency that facilitated the flow of people and goods, instituted
layered security at air, land and seaports, developed a unified national response and recovery
plan, protected critical infrastructure, integrated new technology and improved information sharing
worldwide. Tom Ridge served as Secretary of this historic and critical endeavor until February 1,
2005. Before the events of September 11th, Tom Ridge was twice elected Governor of
Pennsylvania. He served as the state’s 43rd governor from 1995 to 2001.

Governor Ridge’s aggressive technology strategy helped fuel the state’s advances in economic
development, education, health care and the environment. He serves on the boards of the
Institute for Defense Analyses, the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress and
other private and public entities.

He is currently chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s National Security Task Force. He
graduated from Harvard with honors. After his first year at Penn State University’s Dickinson
School of Law, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he served as an infantry staff sergeant
in Vietnam, earning the Bronze Star for Valor, the Combat Infantry Badge and the Vietnamese
Cross of Gallantry. After returning to Pennsylvania and to Dickinson, he earned his law degree
and, later, became one of the first Vietnam combat veterans elected to the U.S. House of
Representatives, where he served six terms.