Thomas Harrigan

Thomas M. Harrigan was the Deputy Administrator for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and a DEA Special Agent for nearly 25 years. He was nominated by President Barack Obama to the position of DEA Deputy Administrator on February 18, 2011 and confirmed by the United States Senate on March 29, 2012.

As Deputy Administrator, Thomas served as the Chief Operating Officer of the DEA, overseeing all enforcement, financial, intelligence, administrative and regulatory operations. In addition, Thomas was responsible for leading the worldwide drug enforcement operations of the agency’s 227 domestic and 87 foreign offices – the largest in federal law enforcement. Thomas directed the DEA’s day-to-day operations including oversight of nearly 10,000 employees, including approximately 4,800 Special Agents and was responsible for a budget of approximately 2.1 billion dollars.

Thomas was the recipient of multiple agency and Department of Justice awards to include the Presidential Rank award of “Distinguished Executive” and the Department of Justice Criminal Division Award. He presently serves on the DEA Education Foundation Board of Directors.

Thomas has a master’s degree in education from Seton Hall University and has attended several government, military, and private leadership courses including Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business Leadership Program.