Cathy L. Milhoan was named assistant director of the FBI’s Office of Public Affairs in August 2021. She had most recently served as the director of communications for the U.S. Secret Service since 2016, running the agency’s public affairs program.

Ms. Milhoan had previously worked at the FBI for more than five years beginning in 2004, including as a national spokesperson. She also designed and led the FBI’s Media Training for Executives program and has trained international law enforcement executives in media and crisis communications.

She left the FBI in 2010 to serve as the deputy assistant director of the Office of Public Affairs at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. At ICE, Ms. Milhoan was responsible for daily operations of the Office of Public Affairs and managed the administrative and strategic communications branches.

In 2013, Ms. Milhoan was named the director of DoD Production at the Defense Media Activity at Fort Meade in Maryland. The DMA provides news, information, and entertainment to U.S. forces around the globe.

Prior to joining the federal government, Ms. Milhoan was a journalist for several newspapers in Delaware and North Carolina.

Ms. Milhoan retired from the U.S. Air Force Reserve in 2018 after serving in a variety of public affairs and leadership assignments, including chief of public affairs for the Reserve Wing at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, as a squadron commander, and as a spokesperson for the secretary of the Air Force at the Pentagon.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in behavioral science and a master’s in administration of justice from Wilmington University.