In Tribute to William R. Harris, 1941-2021
William (“Bill”) R. Harris, Director Emeritus of the Foundation for Resilient Societies and Vice Chair of the National Disaster Resilience Council (NRDC), and passed away on Wednesday, April 21st due to complications from COVID-19.
Bill was a lifelong soldier in the fight to protect critical infrastructure against natural and manmade disasters. He was dedicated until the end, signing his last filing for cybersecurity protection of the U.S. Bulk Power System before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on April 6th. Even later while he was confined to the hospital, Bill gave his last helpful suggestions to the leadership of the NDRC.
Bill first became interested in national security matters while a student at Harvard Law School, where he worked under Professor Henry Kissinger. After graduation he took a research position at the RAND Corporation where he was an international lawyer specializing in arms control, nuclear non-proliferation, energy policy, and continuity of government. He worked on Hot Line upgrades and the linked Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers (1982-84) and was a co-drafter of arms limitation treaties in 1986-87, 1991, and 1993. Within the U.S. Government, Bill’s skills were in high demand, leading him to take temporary positions with the Senate Intelligence Committee and the National Reconnaissance Office.
In 2003, Bill retired to Newburyport, Massachusetts where he had owned a brick Federalist home since his time in the Boston area. He soon became involved in charitable activities, including preservation of the Newburyport waterfront. Realizing that the nation still could benefit from his expertise in national security, Bill was key in the founding of the Foundation for Resilient Societies, serving as General Counsel, Secretary, and Director. Bill also helped establish the National Disaster Resilience Council as a preeminent forum for critical infrastructure protection, co-authoring two editions of the book Powering Through. At the Foundation for Resilient Societies, Bill co-authored over three dozen filings to FERC, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and various state governments. He also served as legal counsel to the reestablished Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack.
Bill made special contributions to the protection of the U.S. electric grid from solar storms, physical attack, cyberattack, electromagnetic pulse, and fuel insecurity. Even in his later years as an attorney, Bill broke legal ground in the new administrative law for electric reliability standards. He was legal counsel for the first Petition for Rulemaking before FERC for an electric reliability standard and initiated the first Level 2 Appeal at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). Bill’s efforts led to a key precedent at FERC: utilities following NERC standards do not have an automatic safe harbor from liability.
Bill is survived by his wife Elizabeth; his children Darcy, William Jr., and Rebecca; their spouses; and his grandchildren. After a lifetime of service to our nation, Bill Harris will deservedly rest in peace.
Bill was a lifelong soldier in the fight to protect critical infrastructure against natural and manmade disasters. He was dedicated until the end, signing his last filing for cybersecurity protection of the U.S. Bulk Power System before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on April 6th. Even later while he was confined to the hospital, Bill gave his last helpful suggestions to the leadership of the NDRC.
Bill first became interested in national security matters while a student at Harvard Law School, where he worked under Professor Henry Kissinger. After graduation he took a research position at the RAND Corporation where he was an international lawyer specializing in arms control, nuclear non-proliferation, energy policy, and continuity of government. He worked on Hot Line upgrades and the linked Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers (1982-84) and was a co-drafter of arms limitation treaties in 1986-87, 1991, and 1993. Within the U.S. Government, Bill’s skills were in high demand, leading him to take temporary positions with the Senate Intelligence Committee and the National Reconnaissance Office.
In 2003, Bill retired to Newburyport, Massachusetts where he had owned a brick Federalist home since his time in the Boston area. He soon became involved in charitable activities, including preservation of the Newburyport waterfront. Realizing that the nation still could benefit from his expertise in national security, Bill was key in the founding of the Foundation for Resilient Societies, serving as General Counsel, Secretary, and Director. Bill also helped establish the National Disaster Resilience Council as a preeminent forum for critical infrastructure protection, co-authoring two editions of the book Powering Through. At the Foundation for Resilient Societies, Bill co-authored over three dozen filings to FERC, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and various state governments. He also served as legal counsel to the reestablished Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack.
Bill made special contributions to the protection of the U.S. electric grid from solar storms, physical attack, cyberattack, electromagnetic pulse, and fuel insecurity. Even in his later years as an attorney, Bill broke legal ground in the new administrative law for electric reliability standards. He was legal counsel for the first Petition for Rulemaking before FERC for an electric reliability standard and initiated the first Level 2 Appeal at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). Bill’s efforts led to a key precedent at FERC: utilities following NERC standards do not have an automatic safe harbor from liability.
Bill is survived by his wife Elizabeth; his children Darcy, William Jr., and Rebecca; their spouses; and his grandchildren. After a lifetime of service to our nation, Bill Harris will deservedly rest in peace.
Our directors have decades of experience in critical infrastructure protection.
Ambassador Henry F. Cooper, Director. Ambassador Henry (Hank) Cooper was Director of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) during the George H.W. Bush administration and President Reagan's Chief Negotiator at the Geneva Defense and Space Talks. Also serving as Assistant Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, he backstopped U.S. bilateral negotiations with the Soviet Union and led the development of President Reagan's space arms control policy; and, as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, oversaw the Reagan modernization program for USAF strategic and space systems. Currently, Ambassador Cooper is Chairman of the Board of High Frontier, a non-profit, non-partisan educational corporation, formed to examine the potential for defending America against missile attack and Chairman Emeritus of Applied Research Associates, Inc. Ambassador Cooper holds a Ph.D. from New York University in Mechanical Engineering, and BS and MS degrees from Clemson University, also in Mechanical Engineering. He serves as a technical resource for Resilient Societies on matters of ballistic missile defense and international arms control.
Richard H. Humphreys, Director. Richard (Rick) Humphreys studies issues associated with the U.S. electric grid following a 35+ year career in the defense industry. Rick spent the bulk of his career with the Boeing Lasers and Electro-Optics group in California and Lockheed Martin’s Laser and Sensor Systems group outside of Seattle, Washington. At both Boeing and Lockheed Martin Rick served in various management roles, primarily as Program Manager. As Program Manager, Rick was responsible for leading teams of engineers and scientists in advancing High Energy Laser technology. Rick’s teams were successful in advancing fiber laser technology from laboratory proof of concept to fielded weapon systems. Rick earned B.S. and M.S. degrees from MIT in Chemical Engineering courtesy of the Air Force ROTC program. During his Air Force career, Rick was stationed at the Air Force Weapons (now Research) Lab, New Mexico and Ft. Meade, Maryland. Rick continued in the Air Force Reserves and ultimately separated with the rank of Major.
Richard M. Krieg, Director. Richard Krieg is Editor of The Journal of Critical Infrastructure Policy based in Washington DC. The peer-reviewed Journal provides a cross-sectoral platform for critical infrastructure and community resilience. He has extensive background in the public health, healthcare and philanthropy. He is former Commissioner of Health for the City of Chicago, Associate Dean of the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health and Director of Policy Analysis for the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, an association of 142 hospitals in the Greater Chicago area. He was President and CEO of The Horizon Foundation in Columbia, MD, a $100 million health philanthropy launched by Johns Hopkins University. He holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Health Policy and Administration from the University of Chicago and completed the mid-career Executive Program at the Harvard Business School. His consulting activities include two FEMA-funded grants addressing the community impacts of a terrorist nuclear strike in the National Capital Region.
Mary D. Lasky, Secretary and Director. Ms. Lasky is the Chairman of the InfraGard Electromagnetic Pulse Special Interest Group (EMP SIG) and has been the Program Manager for Business Continuity Planning for the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. She is lead editor and an author of Powering Through: From Fragile Infrastructure to Community Resilience, an action guide on preventing and mitigating grid failure. Ms. Lasky is a past president of the Community Emergency Response Network Inc. (CERN) in Howard County, Maryland; while she was president, CERN received two FEMA grants to research preparation for nuclear attack. She is a Past President of the Central Maryland Chapter of the Association of Contingency Planners (ACP). Previously at the Applied Physics Laboratory, Ms. Lasky has held a variety of supervisory positions in Information Technology and in business services. For many years, she was adjunct faculty of the Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering, teaching in the graduate degree program in Technical Management. Ms. Lasky is a Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP).
Thomas S. Popik, Chairman and President of the Foundation for Resilient Societies. At this nonprofit dedicated to the protection of critical infrastructure from infrequently occurring disasters, Mr. Popik specializes in the regulation of electric grids for reliability under both the cost-of-service and market-based models. He has testified on electric grid reliability before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Canadian Parliament, and the legislatures of multiple U.S. states and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Politico, The Economist, Reuters, and USA Today. Mr. Popik holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. In his early career, Mr. Popik served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, with a final rank of Captain.