Director Christopher Wray has named Melissa R. Godbold as the special agent in charge of the Oklahoma City Field Office. Ms. Godbold most recently served as the chief of staff for the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Godbold joined the FBI as a special agent in 1997. She was first assigned to the Washington Field Office, investigating international terrorism and weapons of mass destruction cases. While serving as the hazardous materials response team leader, she was placed in charge of the FBI’s hazardous materials operation at the Pentagon during the 9/11 response.

In 2010, she was promoted to supervisor over personnel security matters in the Washington Field Office. In 2012, she was selected as a unit chief in the Human Resources Division at Headquarters. Ms. Godbold was promoted to assistant section chief for the FBI’s Counterterrorism Internet Operations Section in 2013, where she oversaw investigations involving terrorists’ use of the internet.

Ms. Godbold was promoted to an assistant special agent in charge at the Dallas Field Office in 2015. In 2017, she was selected as the director of the National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force in the Cyber Division, where she led the FBI’s collaborative partnership to coordinate, integrate, and share cyber threat information to support investigations and intelligence analysis.

Ms. Godbold grew up in Oklahoma, graduating from Putnam City North High School in Oklahoma City. Ms. Godbold received a Bachelor of Arts degree in geology and a Master of Science degree in hazardous and waste materials management from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.