Meet the Senior Vice President for Integrated Health, Safety, and Response Services

Jerome Hatfield has over two decades of national and international experience in homeland security, public safety, law enforcement, and emergency management. He is currently the Senior Vice President for Integrated Health, Safety, and Response Services at Kean University.

Hatfield received a Presidential appointment to be the FEMA Region II Administrator at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security during the Obama Administration. In this role, he led prevention, preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery programs for 32 million residents in New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. He was responsible for federal efforts during Hurricane Sandy, one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history ($35 billion), and managed federal consequence management operations for events such as the Pope Francis visit, Super Bowl XLVIII, and United Nations General Assemblies. Additionally, he chaired the Federal Security Committee for over 1,000 federal tenants at the World Trade Center.

Hatfield was a Lieutenant Colonel and Deputy Superintendent in the New Jersey State Police prior to joining FEMA. In addition to managing Special Operations (land, air, and sea) and the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management, he was responsible for overseeing more than 800 employees, including enlisted, professional, and administrative staff.

He has also directed assessment teams to Kenya in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) to evaluate crisis response capabilities. Additionally, he participated in a State Department-led team that assessed essential capabilities for the Indonesian National Police.

Hatfield has also served as a Subject Matter Expert at the Naval Postgraduate School's Center for Homeland Defense and Security. In this capacity, he has traveled nationwide, delivering homeland security seminars to senior government officials and leaders from intergovernmental, interagency, and civil-military authorities.

Additionally, Hatfield is a proud veteran of the U.S. Army.