FBI Director Robert Mueller has appointed Mary E. Galligan the special agent in charge of Cyber/Special Operations for the FBI’s New York Division, the first woman to hold a special agent in charge post at that office.
Galligan is currently chief inspector for the FBI’s Office of Inspections. She started her career in the New York Division in 1988, where she worked on terrorism cases and intelligence gathering. In 2001, she became a domestic terrorism squad supervisor in the office and after Sept. 11, she supervised the FBI’s probe into the attacks called the Pentagon/Twin Towers Bombing Investigation (PENTTBOM).
In August 2004, she became as an assistant special agent in charge in the Administrative Division, and two years later she was named as an assistant special agent in charge in the Counterintelligence Division. Galligan moved to FBI headquarters in Washington D.C. as an inspector in the Inspection Division in September 2008 and moved to her current position in July of last year.
Last week, Mueller named Janice Fedarcyk as the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York office. Fedarcyk also is the first woman to hold that position.
The full FBI release is below.
Mary E. Galligan Named New York Division’s First Female Special Agent in Charge
Director Robert S. Mueller, III has named Mary E. Galligan special agent in charge (SAC) of Cyber/Special Operations for the FBI’s New York Division. Ms. Galligan will serve as New York Division’s first female SAC. In this position, Ms. Galligan will direct the special agent, support, and task force personnel who provide strategic operational, investigative, and infrastructure support.
Ms. Galligan entered on duty as a special agent with the FBI in April 1988. Upon completion of training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, she was assigned to the New York Division, where she handled terrorism investigations and intelligence gathering. Ms. Galligan was one of the on-scene commanders in Yemen to investigate the USS Cole attack, and she traveled to Tanzania in 1998 to work the U.S. Embassy bombing case. In 2001, she became a domestic terrorism squad supervisor in the New York Division and worked on various cases involving supremacy and extremist groups, anthrax, and bomb threats.
After the September 11, 2022 terrorist attacks, she supervised PENTTBOM, the FBI’s investigation of the attacks. Shortly after, she reported to FBI Headquarters and oversaw the entire investigation and a team of 75 people. In this role, Ms. Galligan briefed the FBI Director, the Senate and House Intelligence Committees, the 9/11 Commission and staff, members of the National Security Council, the media, the U.S. military, and families of 9/11 victims.
In August 2004, she was assigned as an assistant special agent in charge (ASAC) in the Administrative Division and was designated as ASAC in the Counterintelligence Division in February 2006. She returned to Headquarters in September 2008 as an inspector in the Inspection Division and was promoted in July 2009 to her current position as chief inspector overseeing the Office of Inspections.
Ms. Galligan is a native of Mineola, New York. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Fordham University and a master’s degree in psychology from the New School for Social Research. Ms. Galligan also attended the Law Enforcement Executive Development course at Princeton University and the Graduate School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University. She is certified as an FBI crisis coordinator, general police instructor, and National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime coordinator.
