Tam Dao serves as the assistant vice president for research security at Rice University, where he is responsible for developing and executing the institution's strategy for research security. His role involves collaborating with faculty, staff, and students to protect the intellectual property, knowledge, and outcomes from Rice’s research efforts against foreign and domestic threats. Additionally, he acts as the primary liaison for law enforcement and intelligence agencies seeking assistance from the university.

Before joining Rice, Dao held various positions at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). In 2020, he was promoted to oversee the FBI’s Counterintelligence Task Force, leading initiatives to expose, prevent, and investigate economic espionage. He conducted over 300 classified briefings for senior White House staff, members of Congress, heads of U.S. federal funding agencies, and university administrators. His 2014 investigation into malign foreign talent programs led to the identification of over 400 instances of foreign influence on extramural research and the recognition of more than 200 scientists at over 65 academic institutions with foreign influence concerns. Dao is widely recognized as a subject matter expert on research security, economic espionage, and foreign influence on federally funded research. He is also a certified FBI hostage negotiator and regularly instructs at the FBI’s Crisis Negotiation Unit and Counterintelligence Training Center. In 2021, he received the FBI’s Medal of Excellence for his contributions to counterintelligence.

Prior to his tenure at the FBI, Dao held a tenure-track professorship at the University of Houston. He is a recipient of the Walter G. Klopfer Award for distinguished contributions to the literature in personality assessment and the University of Houston Faculty Research Excellence Award for outstanding research and scholarship. Dao has received federal and state grants for his research and has authored over 50 scientific articles and book chapters on personality assessment. He holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Texas at Austin, a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and a doctorate from Florida State University. He also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in advanced psychology and psychiatry at the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Houston.