The Aspen Institute

Richard Falkenrath is Senior Fellow for National Security at the Council on Foreign Relations. Until May 2024, he was Head of Client Service and Head of Geopolitics at Bridgewater Associates, a premier asset management firm. Dr. Falkenrath joined Bridgewater in 2014 and was a Bridgewater Partner and a member of the firm’s Operating Committee. He was Chief Administrative Officer from 2020 to 2022, where he managed the firm’s legal, regulatory, security, human resources, and real estate departments; and led Bridgewater’s handling of the COVID pandemic. Preceding his CAO role, Dr. Falkenrath was Chief Security Officer from 2014 to 2019. From 2000 to 2004, Dr. Falkenrath was a member of the National Security Council and White House staff, ultimately as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Homeland Security Advisor. He served as Deputy Commissioner for Counterterrorism of the New York City Police Department from 2006 to 2010. Prior to the White House, he was Assistant Professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has also been the Stephen and Barbara Friedman Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and a Contributing Editor to Bloomberg TV. Dr. Falkenrath is also a member of the Mission Committee of the Board of Governors of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.