Home to Redstone Arsenal, the Army Materiel Command, a growing FBI presence, NASA, the Missile Defense Agency, the Space Development Agency, the U.S. Space Command, defense contractors and countless technology firms, Huntsville offers a front-row seat to the industries and organizations that are increasingly driving national security policy.

To help prepare tomorrow’s national security leaders: UAH is expanding its intelligence and security studies programs through a 12-hour graduate certificate, the Intelligence and Security Studies program introduces students to the theories, concepts and strategic goals that underpin U.S. national security.

The program is a perfect fit for the region: Few places in the country sit at the crossroads of technology and national security quite like Huntsville.

“The benefit of being here at UAH and in Huntsville is that we are right in the middle of the technology/security/policy nexus,” said Ferrell Horn, director of UAH’s Office of Intelligence and Security Studies and a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Sociology. “I have no doubt that there will be interest in the degree programs from potential students, but also from our professional community, because we will be able to prepare students, future members of Huntsville’s workforce, to understand the most critical U.S. national security threats that we face today.

“The program will focus on the strategic picture of the relevant social sciences in conjunction with technological and scientific developments that directly impact U.S. national and homeland security decision-making, coupled with our nation’s warfighting capabilities.”

Before joining UAH, Horn spent more than two decades working across the U.S. intelligence community on some of the nation’s most complex security challenges.

“Toward the end of my career with the federal government, academia was always something that came to mind when I thought about where my skillset would be useful that would also allow me to continue to make a contribution,” Horn said. “It means a great deal to me to be part of preparing the next generation for this kind of service to the country. It’s incredibly rewarding.”

Horn is also leading the effort to expand that foundation into two master’s degree offerings that reflect the needs of federal employers and the unique professional ecosystem surrounding Huntsville and Redstone.

“In my role here, I wear two hats,” Horn said. “I’m a clinical assistant professor, so I teach intelligence and security studies courses, while also serving as the director of the office tasked with developing the proposed master’s degree programs. At their core, the new degrees will be social science-based but will go a step further and incorporate a broad understanding of some key STEM fields.”