Kevin R. Cornelius Named Special Agent in Charge of Cincinnati Division

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller has named Kevin R. Cornelius the special agent in charge of the Cincinnati Division. Mr. Cornelius most recently served as chief of the Tactical Section within the Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG) and commander of the Hostage Rescue Team (HRT). In this role, he led and managed personnel and programs such as crisis negotiations, helicopter aviation operations, operations, selection and training, intelligence, communications, and special weapons and tactics teams.

Mr. Cornelius joined the FBI in 1991 and reported to the Indianapolis Field Office, where he worked violent crime and major offender matters. In 1994, he joined HRT and served for five years.

In 2003, Mr. Cornelius became the supervisor of the southern Ohio Joint Terrorism Task Force in the FBI’s Columbus Resident Agency. He developed and maintained many significant liaison relationships with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies; business, community, and religious leaders; and the Department of Defense.

In January 2008, he was named as the assistant special agent in charge for the National Security Branch of the Cincinnati Field Office and was responsible for managing the Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, Cyber, and Intelligence programs. In this position, Mr. Cornelius continued to engage the community and develop important partnerships that advanced the work of the division.

Mr. Cornelius was the FBI’s on-scene commander in Iraq and Afghanistan during 2008 to 2009 and oversaw personnel in both theaters. He served as the FBI’s interagency senior representative involving counterterrorism investigations, some of which led to successful prosecutions by the Department of Justice and ministries of justice in other countries.

In 2011, Mr. Cornelius was promoted to the Senior Executive Service and his leadership role within CIRG. He has worked collaboratively with personnel of numerous federal, state, local, and foreign agencies along with members of community and private organizations. Mr. Cornelius maintains liaison, both domestically and internationally, with law enforcement executive management, senior executives of the interagency, and DOJ personnel.

Mr. Cornelius has a Bachelor of Science in police administration and a Masters of Criminal Justice degree from Eastern Kentucky University. He also received a Masters of Education degree from the University of Virginia.

He has been an adjunct faculty member with the University of Virginia at the FBI Academy’s Leadership Development Institute, where he taught graduate- and undergraduate-level courses for the FBI’s National Academy.

Before joining the FBI, Mr. Cornelius served as a captain in the Military Police Corps in the United States Army.