Biography

Francesca (Chessie) Lockhart is the Cybersecurity Clinic Program Lead at the Strauss Center for International Security and Law. Before joining the Strauss Center, she managed the Homeland Security Unit at the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division, overseeing several strategic intelligence analysis programs covering counterterrorism, counterintelligence, cybersecurity, and critical infrastructure protection for the State of Texas. Previous roles at the Department of Public Safety include supervising intelligence support for region-specific criminal investigations and serving as lead analyst on the counterintelligence program.

Francesca received her bachelor’s degree from UT Austin, where she was a Brumley Next Generation Undergraduate Scholar at the Strauss Center and an Undergraduate Fellow at the Clements Center for National Security. She also held the Lowell Lebermann Scholarship through the Forty Acres Scholars Program.