City of Meridian Homeland Security Director Bunky Partridge will be among the graduates of a specialized program at Harvard University to meet with U.S. Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff and other key leaders involved in homeland security. That meeting, to be followed by a Congressional hearing with members of the House Committee on Homeland Security chaired by Rep. Benny Thompson of Mississippi, will take place on June 13 in Washington, D.C.

Partridge is a recent graduate of Harvard's National Preparedness Leadership Initiative (NPLI). He and fellow classmates will hear an address by Chertoff, then meet with him to share ideas about preparedness, leadership and security issues. Other confirmed speakers for the session include James Lee Witt, former FEMA director in the Clinton administration; Marc Roberts of the Harvard School of Public Health; and Jason Jackson, Wal-Mart's director of Business Continuity and Emergency Operations. Additional invited speakers include Dr. Rajeev Venkayya, director of biodefense for the Homeland Security Council; and General Russell Honore of NorthComm.

Details about the Congressional hearing following the meeting have not yet been finalized.

Maureen Lofton

Assistant for Governmental Affairs

City of Meridian