Richard Lefler

Executive Board of Advisors and Dean of Emeritus Faculty, Security Executive Council

Dick Lefler retired as the vice president for worldwide security of American Express in 2001. In addition to his security duties, Lefler managed the Corporate Aviation Unit. His responsibilities included program development and management of the security of employees, facility protection, investigation of attacks on financial products, and coordination with federal, state and international law enforcement agencies regarding security concerns.

Prior to joining American Express, Lefler was deputy special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s New York office. His 20-year career at the Service included assignments as special agent in charge of protective operations, special agent in charge of the Honolulu office (Far East), and investigative and protective assignments in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. In the nation’s capitol, Lefler’s protective assignments included the Presidential Protective Division and the Vice Presidential Protective Division. He retired from the Secret Service in 1985 as a member of the senior executive service.

Lefler received his undergraduate degree from the California State University, Los Angeles in June 1964. He attended the Federal Executive Institute (Charlottesville, Va.), for Executive Education Program in 1981, and the John F. Kennedy School of Government’s Program for Senior Managers in Government at Harvard University in 1982. He also completed the majority of work towards a master’s degree in public administration at Baruch College in New York.

Lefler is a past president of the International Security Management Association (ISMA) and served on the board of directors for several years. He was a member of the advisory board for the International Association of Financial Crime Investigators, and is a former member of the State Department’s Overseas Security Advisory Committee.