Director James B. Comey has selected Stephen E. Richardson to serve as assistant director of the FBI’s Operational Technology Division. In this role, he will oversee the development and deployment of technology-based solutions to enable and enhance the FBI’s intelligence, national security, and law enforcement operations worldwide.

Mr. Richardson most recently served as the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Mobile Division. While there, Mr. Richardson led a team that was nominated for a Service to America Medal for its efforts to rescue a kidnapped 5-year-old boy from an underground bunker in February 2013.

Mr. Richardson began his career with the FBI as a special agent in 1996. His first assignment was to the New Orleans Division, Lafayette Resident Agency, and later the Baton Rouge Resident Agency. He specialized in investigating white-collar crime, public corruption, hate crime, violent crime, and gang matters. Mr. Richardson formed the first organized task force in the Western District of Louisiana to combat the most violent criminal offenders in the region. He also served as a member of the SWAT team.

In 2002, Mr. Richardson was promoted to supervisory special agent of the Safe Streets and Gang Unit within the Criminal Investigative Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The next year, he was assigned to the Counterterrorism Division as a program manager and supervised terrorism investigations throughout the eastern region of the United States. In 2004, he was promoted to unit chief of the Counterterrorism Watch Center and oversaw investigations about threats made against the United States.

In 2005, Mr. Richardson reported to the Memphis Division, Nashville Resident Agency, as a supervisory special agent. In this role, he oversaw the Criminal Enterprise/Violent Crime Squad and worked closely with the Cookeville, Clarksville, and Columbia Resident Agencies. He also managed the Joint Terrorism Task Force and helped to create a stand-alone cyber squad.

Mr. Richardson was promoted to assistant special agent in charge of the Richmond Division’s Criminal, Cyber, and Administrative Programs in 2009 and oversaw the Roanoke, Bristol, and Lynchburg Resident Agencies. In 2011, he was promoted to inspector with the Office of Inspections at FBI Headquarters.

A native of East Tennessee, Mr. Richardson earned a bachelor of business administration degree in accounting from East Tennessee State University. He has a master of business administration degree from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. From 1991 until 1996, Mr. Richardson served as a special agent with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) and received both the TBI Medal of Valor and the TBI Employee of the Year awards.