Drawing on both his personal experience and academic insights, Chief Joseph Pfeifer will take you inside the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in NYC to show how leaders must act decisively yet remain flexible in a changing threat environment. Crises require response leaders to make critical decisions under conditions of vast uncertainty and perform complex organizational tasks to protect life and property. In extreme events, a hierarchical command and control structure is often inadequate and may even hinder the necessary inter-organizational response. How can leaders handle the cognitive and organizational demands of a mega-crisis?

Joseph Pfeifer served for 37 years in the Fire Department of New York City, retiring in 2018 as an Assistant Chief and the Chief of Counterterrorism and Emergency Preparedness.

Pfeifer was the first Chief at the World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001, played a major command role during Hurricane Sandy in 2012, and helped manage NYC’s Ebola response efforts. He was the founding director of FDNY’s Center for Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness and helped lead many post-9/11 management innovations at FDNY.

Currently, Pfeifer is a senior fellow at the Program on Crisis Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School, a senior fellow at the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, and a visiting instructor at the Center for Homeland Defense and Security at the Naval Postgraduate School.

Pfeifer earned master’s degrees from the Harvard Kennedy School, Naval Postgraduate School, and Immaculate Conception and has written widely in professional journals and books.

Dalio Auditorium, Schwarzman College, B2 Level

Guests from both Tsinghua and other universities may register for this event by scanning the QR code. Attendees must show their confirmed reservation and valid university ID to access this event. Attendees will be admitted to Schwarzman College on condition that they adhere to all building and event policies. This event is not open to members of the media and will be held off the record. No attributions or descriptions of this event may be published or shared online without the written consent of both Tsinghua University and Schwarzman College. This lecture will be delivered in English.