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Timothy Ward Nichols

Visiting Professor of the Practice in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Sanford School of Public Policy
Box 90250, Durham, NC 27708
128 Rubenstein Hall, Box 90250, Durham, NC 27708

Overview


Tim Nichols (B.A, UVA; M.A, USF; M.B.A.,NCSU) Tim served as an intelligence officer in the Marine Corps for over 21 years with extensive experience in the special operations, intelligence, and counterterrorism fields. His overseas experience spanned deployments to Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Middle East, East Africa, Central America, and the Pacific. He was designated a Regional Affairs Officer for East Africa. While in Iraq, he directed a joint interagency task force attempting to track and target foreign extremists traveling to Iraq for violent activities. Prior to his retirement from the military, Tim taught courses in Leadership, Ethics, and Management at Duke, UNC, and NC State for four years. In addition to his consulting activities, Tim is currently a research fellow and visiting  professor of the practice in the School of Public Policy at Duke University. He is the executive director of the Counterterrorism and Public Policy Fellowship Program and the Faculty Representative for the Master of National Security Policy Program.  His research interests and teaching responsibilities include  policy analysis, intelligence, interagency coordination, national security, homeland security and counterterrorism policy.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Visiting Professor of the Practice in the Sanford School of Public Policy · 2019 - Present Sanford School of Public Policy

In the News


Published November 19, 2024
Preparing a New Generation of Military and National Security Strategists at Duke
Published November 17, 2023
On Veterans Day, Tim Nichols Talks National Security
Published April 13, 2022
Exploring the Waters of Pearl Harbor

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Recent Publications


special operations forces and great power competition in the 21st Century

Other American enterprise (Washington, D.C.) · August 2020 America is moving from one era of foreign policy to another: The primacy of counterter-rorism has faded, and competition with authoritarian great powers is the dominant concern. • While special operations forces (SOF) understand that they must play a role ... Link to item Cite

The Cost of the Knife: A Review of The Way of the Knife by Mark Mazzetti

Book Review Georgetown Journal of International Affairs · 2015 Open Access Link to item Cite
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Recent Grants


A Proposal to create the Triangle Institute for Security Studies (TISS) Intelligence Community Center of Academic Excellence in Intelligence and Security Studies"

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill · 2015 - 2019

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Education, Training & Certifications


North Carolina State University · 2010 M.B.A.
University of South Florida · 2000 M.A.
University of Virginia · 1989 A.B.