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Jason Christensen, Ph.D., distinctly remembers fear and tragedy during the catastrophic events of 9\/11. That morning, he also remembers his resolve to protect people and pursue a career in national security.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven then as a child I realized any day could be a 9\/11,\u201d said Christensen. \u201cI knew that I wanted to do something, anything, to prevent it from happening again.\u201d<\/p>\n
As an undergraduate scholar, Christensen pursued a degree in Global Studies with an emphasis on International Relations and Counterterrorism at the University of Minnesota, where he went on to earn his Master\u2019s of Science degree in Security Technologies.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was about twelve years old when I decided that obtaining a Ph.D in my field was something I\u2019d like to aspire towards one day,\u201d said Christensen. \u201cIt was my grandfather, Dr. William R. Laney, who encouraged me to pursue this dream if I felt passionate about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the Fall of 2014, Christensen realized that dream by joining the Security Studies doctoral program in the UCF School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs, earning his doctorate at only twenty-five years old.<\/p>\n
\u201cThroughout my doctoral degree, I learned the power of perseverance, which prepared me for my current career,\u201d said Christensen. \u201cFor example, the necessity of sacrifice in pursuit of a higher goal and the need to prioritize leads to rewarding outcomes. With this comes risk, tenacity, and learning to also have unwavering faith in yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Christensen now works as a lead associate social scientist at consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, specializing in methodology and applied analytics. His current research also analyzes the psychology of terrorists to better understand individual motives and external conditions for recruitment into violent extremist organizations.<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly there are stressful moments in my career,\u201d said Christensen. \u201cI compartmentalize, practice yoga and remain close to my family to remind myself of all the good left in this world worth fighting for when things seem dark.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the foreseeable future, Christensen plans on continuing his work creating data-driven decision-making platforms and deliverables for military leadership while leveraging applied analytics.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the future, especially during retirement, I\u2019d also consider teaching as an adjunct professor to help educate the next generation of scholars as national security threats undoubtedly continue to evolve,\u201d said Christensen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jason Christensen, Ph.D., distinctly remembers fear and tragedy during the catastrophic events of 9\/11. That morning, he also remembers his resolve to protect people and pursue a career in national security. \u201cEven then as a child I realized any day could be a 9\/11,\u201d said Christensen. \u201cI knew that I wanted to do something, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134,"featured_media":26790,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5962,20,38,13,16,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-science-alumni","category-psaclassnotes","category-breaking-news","category-news","category-political-science-departments","category-top-news"],"yoast_head":"\n