Alumni Spotlight: Timothy Connors MBA’97 JD’00
Adjunct Fellow, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research
Partner, PJ Sage, Inc.
As an expert on counterterrorism and an active member of the U.S. Army Reserve, it would be easy for Tim Connors to narrow his focus on preventing another terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Instead, the 2000 graduate says his Notre Dame legal education gave him “a different perspective. You really understand that there are two sides to every story, and it changes the way you think about and approach problems.”
As a fellow at the Center for Policing Terrorism based at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, Connors works with police departments around the country to analyze and prevent security threats. He says law school gave him research, writing, and analytical skills that he uses daily in his job.
“For example, the New York Police Department last year released a report on radicalization in the West, focusing on Muslim communities and jihadist terrorism,” Connors says. “But when you’re talking about radicalization you’re really talking about behavior that is, by and large, legal and protected conduct. There are free speech issues and civil rights issues involved. So the question is, how do you balance your need to know what’s going on with your obligation not to violate individual rights?”
“It’s not an easy issue … but having that background and ability to do critical analysis that you get in law school is invaluable.”
Connors served in the Infantry following his graduation from West Point in 1988. After earning MBA and law degrees at Notre Dame, he practiced with a law firm in Syracuse, N.Y. and joined the Army Reserve. Right after September 11, 2001—during his second year at the firm—Connors was deployed to Konar Province, Afghanistan, as a civil affairs officer. When his 10-month tour ended, he says, “I needed to find a job where I could balance my part-time military career with full-time work, in a way that would benefit my employer when I was away.”
Since 2003, the Manhattan Institute has provided that opportunity, although Connors is leaving his post to launch PJ Sage, Inc. a security consulting firm. His goal in the new venture is to help local public safety agencies deal with the security challenges of the future. “The threats might come from gangs, from state-supported terrorist groups, or from loose transnational networks,” says Connors. “The one sure thing is that they’re going to manifest themselves locally.”
