Tricia Bacon, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at American University’s School of Public Affairs. She earned her PhD at Georgetown University in 2013.

Prior to her employment at American University, Dr. Bacon worked on counterterrorism for over ten years at the Department of State, including in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, the Bureau of Counterterrorism, and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security. Her work on counterterrorism in the intelligence community received numerous accolades, and she conducted research and analysis on counterterrorism in South Asia, North Africa, East Africa, Europe, and Southeast Asia.

She was also a Pre-Doctoral Fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Visiting Scholar and Terrorism Research Award recipient at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland, and a PRISP Fellow and Presidential Management Fellow at the State Department.

Her research focuses on terrorist and insurgent groups' alliance behavior and decision-making, U.S. counterterrorism policy, and the role of intelligence in national security decision-making.