Joan Neuhaus Schaan is the Fellow in Homeland Security and Terrorism at the Baker Institute. For approximately the last eight years, Neuhaus Schaan has had substantial involvement in a variety of terrorism and homeland security activities and initiatives. Since late 2004 she has served as the executive director of the Houston–Harris County Regional Homeland Security Advisory Council, a joint effort of Harris County, the City of Houston, and Rice University. From 2002 to 2004 Neuhaus Schaan was mobilized to active duty for Operation Noble Eagle/Enduring Freedom and was deployed to Northern Command’s 24 Operational Intelligence Watch in Cheyenne Mountain to man one of two terrorism/homeland security seats. At the conclusion of her tour, she was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal and authorized to wear the Joint Chiefs of Staff insignia.

For the two years immediately prior to mobilization, Neuhaus Schaan served as the project coordinator for the Houston Task Force on Terrorism. As project coordinator she led the assessment of the City of Houston’s terrorism response mechanisms, a joint effort of the Office of Mayor of Houston and the Baker Institute. Upon completion Neuhaus Schaan was chaired as the Thomas Cook and Mary Elizabeth Edwards Fellow for Terrorism at Rice University in 2002.

Neuhaus Schaan’s first involvement in the field of terrorism and homeland security came in approximately 1996 as an officer with the United States Naval Reserve, when she became an anti-terrorism training officer for her squadron and was responsible for the force protection briefings for monthly deployments to the Americas and Pacific. Neuhaus Schaan also has participated in homeland security issues at the state level. In 1999, she was appointed to the Texas Commission on Private Security by Governor George W. Bush. She was reappointed by Governor Rick Perry.

Neuhaus Schaan received her B.A. from Williams College and her MBA from the Jesse Jones Graduate School at Rice University. After spending 10 years in the fields of finance and technology transfer with Underwood, Neuhaus & Co., Goldman Sachs and Westinghouse Credit, in 1993, Neuhaus Schaan began her own private investigations practice, Confidential Advisory Services, Inc.