EAD Kathleen L. McChesney Announces Retirement; FBI Boston SAC Charles Prouty to Fill Her Post

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III today announced that Executive Assistant Director Kathleen L. McChesney is retiring from the FBI after 24 years as a special agent to accept a position with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Ms. McChesney, 51, began her career with the FBI in August 1978 and rose through the ranks as an investigator, supervisor, and manager in both field and Headquarters positions. She served as special agent in charge of both the Portland, Oregon and Chicago divisions, and she served as assistant director for FBI training at Quantico, Virginia. Last December, Director Mueller appointed Ms. McChesney to the newly created position of executive assistant director for Law Enforcement Services, where she has been responsible for the FBI's Training, Laboratory, and Criminal Justice Information Services Divisions, as well as the Office of International Operations and the Critical Incident Response Group. Mueller created the position as part of a major reorganization at the FBI to better address the new challenges of terrorism and to modernize and streamline the FBI's more traditional functions, with a focus on improving information sharing with state and local police.

In May, Ms. McChesney was recognized for her contributions to law enforcement with a lifetime achievement award by the National Center for Women and Policing, an organization that leads efforts to attract women to law enforcement careers. She is a member of the International Association of Women Police and the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and she was the 1987 FBI nominee as Outstanding Federal Law Enforcement Manager to the Interagency Commission of Federal Women in Law Enforcement. Ms. McChesney holds both a master's degree and a Ph.D. in public administration.

"Kathleen brought to the FBI the personal and professional qualities that we hold highest," Director Robert S. Mueller said. "She has distinguished herself and made important contributions as an innovator and leader in the law enforcement community, most recently as we have worked to improve coordination and increase information sharing with our state and local counterparts. She will be missed."

Mueller has appointed Boston Special Agent in Charge Charles S. Prouty to fill the post. Mr. Prouty, 57, has broad experience in law enforcement training and interagency relations. After joining the FBI in 1973, he was assigned as an investigator in South Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. He served as a supervisor of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team and also in the violent crimes section at FBI Headquarters. He headed the Special Operations and Research Unit in the Training Division, and also helped develop training policy. Before Boston, he was special agent in charge of the FBI in Arkansas. Mr. Prouty, a former Navy SEAL and Vietnam veteran, is a graduate of the Naval Academy and holds both master's and law degrees.

"Charlie is highly qualified to lead Law Enforcement Services and to build on efforts under way at a critical time in the FBI's history. His background and experience as an investigator and manager make him ideally suited in this position to help us tackle the criminal and counterterrorism challenges of the 21st century," Mueller said of Prouty.