"Rutgers Engineering equips you with problem-solving skills that would help you with any endeavor you would choose to pursue in your life. I'm a prime example." -Alan Kohler
After earning his BS and MS degrees in ceramic engineering, since incorporated into the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Alan Kohler changed course by joining the FBI. As a special agent, he successfully led investigations of multiple counterintelligence and espionage threats. He retired after 27 years of service as the assistant director of the FBI Counterintelligence Division. Today, as the president of Pamir Consulting, LLC, a risk consultancy firm providing insights and advice to government, academic, and corporate clients doing business with and in China, he is an internationally recognized national security executive. This past semester, he finished his fourth year teaching a master's degree course in counterintelligence at Johns Hopkins. He also holds two Guinness World Records.
Why Rutgers?
I was born and raised in New Jersey, and when I was looking around for an engineering school, Rutgers, with its great reputation, was a first choice that was just half an hour from home.
What attracted you to ceramic engineering?
It was part of what led me to Rutgers Engineering. Between one high school teacher and the introduction to engineering classes we took, it seemed like the engineering of the future—and I was interested in things from space shuttle tiles to fiber optics.
What led you to the FBI?
I applied to join the FBI right after I got my MS. I intended to stay for my PhD, but felt I didn't want to spend my career in a lab. My father, a New Jersey police officer, was a big influence on me, and I decided to apply my scientific mind to law enforcement and contribute to the world in a different way.
Did your Rutgers Engineering education prepare you for your FBI career?
Absolutely. The analytic rigor scientists bring to the job is really important. Engineers are problem solvers, and FBI agents, like engineers, work to solve problems in a systematic way: the scientific method is the same as the investigative method.
No two days were alike, and there was always something new to make decisions about with imperfect information. My engineering really helped me with the incredible mental challenge of going up against the world's most capable intelligence agencies and defeating them.
What do you most value about your SoE education?
I really enjoyed it. To me, it was about learning to solve engineering and materials science problems. That ability has helped me for the rest of my life.
But the most important thing I got out of Rutgers Engineering was my wife, Leslie Warner. We've been together since 1988 and just celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. She was a fellow ceramic engineering major, who also graduated in 1992, and later worked with the U.S. Navy as a materials engineer. Not surprisingly, our three children are all scientists.
Do you have any advice for a new engineering student?
I would say that if you finish at SoE, you are equipped with problem-solving skills that would help you with any endeavor you would choose to pursue in your life. I'm a prime example.
Which of your many accomplishments at the FBI are you most proud of?
I'm proud of the teams I was a member of, the people I worked with, and everything we were able to accomplish together. During my last three years, I led all counterintelligence in the FBI and had thousands of people working for me. It was a huge responsibility—and I'm proud to have done that job effectively, to have given the Bureau and division some stability, and to have contributed to our national security in a meaningful way.
As far as a particular case goes, I am proud of the Ghost Stories operation, which culminated in the arrest of ten Russian spies in 2010, and which was easily the biggest case I was on.
What was it like when Ghost Stories became the inspiration for the popular TV series The Americans?
Honestly, I was surprised because nobody talked to us at the FBI when it was in development. I didn't watch it until three years ago and would rage quit, as some of it was accurate and some of it wasn't. My wife reminded me it wasn't a documentary; it's a drama—and it weird to have a case I worked on made into a drama.
Who or what poses the biggest threat to national security today?
Of four countries—Russia, Cuba, Iran, and China—the biggest threat mostly comes from China, which has set its sights on becoming the world's most dominant power by mid-century by playing unfair advantages against other countries.
How do you help Pamir Consulting clients who are doing business with and in China?
We warn them about threats and help them to find opportunities in China. It's a dynamic relationship between the U.S. and China, with new laws, sanctions, and a relationship that's sometimes friendly and sometimes adversarial. It's hard for companies to keep up with that. We are able to provide them with a heads-up when winds are blowing in one direction or another.
What do you most enjoy about your role as president of Pamir Consulting?
I really enjoy, at the end of my career, getting personally involved and seeing the fruits of my labor—while still contributing to the mission I dedicated my life to at the FBI.
What do you hold your Guinness World Records for?
I was the principal FBI liaison to the UK Security and Intelligence Agencies and I lived in London for four years when with four friends and two of our sons I went to eight international capitals in 24 hours via public transportation. It was a great logistical challenge. We flew to Budapest and went from there.
I also ran in what was, at the time, the world's largest Santa Claus run in Virginia, with more than 4,000 other Santas.
What did you do for fun at Rutgers?
Dating my wife through college and hanging out with suitemates in the dorm and enjoying the camaraderie of the ceramic department. I played on the club baseball team and played flag football. Our team, because we were ceramic engineers, was known as the Mud Men.
Do you have a favorite spy book or movie?
The Human Factor by Graham Greene is a really good book about the psychology of espionage, and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is my favorite spy movie.
What might surprise people about you?
There just may or may not be a sidewalk on Busch campus that has my and my wife's initials carved on it.
If you could take a vacation tomorrow, where would you go?
Leslie and I would go to Australia on a nice long vacation. I've been there for work, but have never toured, and she has never been there.
