Bob Mueller

Robert S. Mueller III became the sixth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on September 4, 2001, one week prior to the attacks of September 11. He is widely credited not only for leading the FBI during an extremely challenging time, but also with transforming the Bureau from a traditional law enforcement agency to an intelligence-based national security organization. Mr. Mueller has served as a United States Marine Corps officer (for his service, he was awarded the Bronze Star, two Navy Commendation Medals, the Purple Heart, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry); an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) in three different offices; the United States Attorney for the Northern District of California; the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Criminal Division; and the longest-serving Director of the FBI since J. Edgar Hoover. Mr. Mueller began his career as a litigator in San Francisco, where he worked until 1976. He then served for 12 years in the US Attorney's Offices, first as the US Attorney for the Northern District of California, where he served as an AUSA and then as Chief of the Criminal Division. He then served as an AUSA in the District of Massachusetts, where he investigated and prosecuted major financial fraud, terrorism and public corruption cases, as well as narcotics conspiracies and international money launderers. After moving to private practice as a partner at a Boston law firm, Mr. Mueller returned to public service in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He served in the DOJ, first as an assistant to Attorney General Richard L. Thornburgh, and then as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division, where he oversaw prosecutions including the conviction of Manuel Noriega and John Gotti, and the Lockerbie Pan Am Flight 103 case. In one of his few breaks from government service, Mr. Mueller was a partner at Hale and Dorr from 1993-1995, where he focused on white-collar criminal litigation. He again returned to public service in 1995 as a senior litigator in the Homicide Section of the District of Columbia US Attorney's Office. In 1998, Mr. Mueller was named US Attorney in San Francisco, a position he held until 2001. He then served as Acting Deputy Attorney General of the DOJ for several months before becoming Director of the FBI. JD, University of Virginia School of Law, 1973 MA, International Relations, New York University, 1967 AB, Princeton University, 1966