Homeland Security & Terrorism

Olga Bertlesen, Ph.D.

Dr. Bertelsen joined Tiffin University in August 2021. Prior to that, she practiced medicine/dental surgery in Ukraine and, after earning her bachelor and doctoral degrees in History with the focus on Soviet/Russian history and intelligence at American and British universities, she conducted research and taught undergraduate and graduate courses on world history, international relations, and security and intelligence studies at Columbia University, the University of Toronto, Harvard University, New York University, the European University Institute (Florence, Italy), and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Prescott, Arizona). 

With special interests in Ukrainian and Russian history and intelligence, her research focuses on political violence, bioterrorism, covert action, counterintelligence, and U.S. national and global security. Dr. Bertelsen is the author and editor of five books, and a great number of book chapters and articles that explore the issues of genocidal practices, state violence, U.S. national and global security, and Russian covert operations of ideological subversion. Her scholarship is grounded in empirical and archival research that she conducts in the United States and Europe, including the former KGB archives. Her most recent publications examine Russian covert operations in American academia and Russian disinformation campaigns. 

She is a recipient of numerous prestigious national and international awards, and a speaker at various international conferences, forums, and assemblies, including the United Nations. She is a member of several professional associations, and is serving as a reviewer and member of editorial boards of several prestigious scholarly journals, including Nationalities Papers: The Journal of Nationalism and Ethnicity, Harvard Ukrainian Studies, Ideology and Politics Journal, Scripta Historica, and Kyiv-Mohyla Arts and Humanities.

Dr. Bertelsen’s research and publications shaped the vector of her collaborative work with governmental and private intelligence agencies and her consulting activities that mainly focus on the Russian covert action and U.S. national security. She actively engages her students in her research and publication activities, and among her graduate students are individuals whom she helped receive prestigious national and international awards and grants, and who have been employed by the U.S. Department of State and think tanks in the United States, Geneva, Brussels, and Toronto.

Kevin Cashen

Assistant Professor Kevin Cashen teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses in criminal justice and homeland security and has actively been involved in online learning. Mr. Cashen earned a B.A. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from The Ohio State University, a Master of Criminal Justice from the University of Alabama and a Master of Arts in Security Studies (Homeland Security and Defense) through the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.

Assistant Professor Cashen started his career in criminal justice as a correctional worker with the Lucas County Department of Work Release in 1983 and retired in August 2009 as the Chief of Police with the Norwalk Police Department. Mr. Cashen held various positions within the Norwalk Police Department to include patrol officer, detective, sergeant, captain, executive officer and chief. Assistant Professor Cashen attended the FBI National Academy and is a Certified Law Enforcement Executive through the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police. Assistant Professor Cashen is a member of various local and state boards and committees.

Lacy Ellis, Ph.D.

Dr. Lacy Ellis holds a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice and a Master's Degree in Criminal Justice from Tiffin University, and a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration from Walden University focusing her studies on women in law enforcement. Dr. Ellis comes to Tiffin University with previous teaching experience in both online, hybrid, and traditional seated classes.

Before pursuing academics, Dr. Ellis received her OPOTA Certification and served in a variety of positions within the criminal justice community. She started her career as an undercover narcotics agent working cases from street level to deep cover operations. She served as an intelligence specialist, training at the DEA Academy in Quantico, Virginia, receiving the Federal Law Enforcement Analytical Training Certification. She also has experience in death investigation working as an investigator for Wayne County Coroner's Office. Dr. Ellis currently holds her commission with a local Sheriff’s Office. She is an ALICE Certified Instructor and conducts trainings for Active Shooter Response.

Dr. Ellis is a member of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences and the American Society for Public Administration. Her research interests include the psychological effects of law enforcement, gender studies in law enforcement, motherhood and policy, active shooter response, and physical fitness. She lives in Northeast Ohio with her husband Charles, also in law enforcement, and their three children, Hunter, Olivia and Rayne.

Pete Piraino, Ph.D.

Pete Piraino joined Tiffin University as a full-time Instructor in January, 2012. Professor Piraino teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses in criminal justice and homeland security. Prior to becoming a full-time faculty member, he served at Tiffin as an adjunct instructor for three years.

Professor Piraino recently retired from the United States Secret Service, as Resident Agent in Charge of its Toledo Resident Office, overseeing Secret Service operations for the 21 counties of Northwest Ohio. Throughout his 23-year career with the Secret Service, he served in a variety of protective and investigative assignments that have taken him to over 40 countries on six continents.

Some of his managerial assignments in the Secret Service included positions in the Vice Presidential Protective Division in Washington, D.C. under then Vice President Cheney, as Protective Detail Leader for Mary Cheney, the daughter of the Vice President, and in the Intelligence Division. Professor Piraino also served in the Secret Service's Presidential Protective Division under Presidents Clinton and Bush.

Prior to his 12-year assignment in Washington, D.C., Professor Piraino served as Special Agent in the Chicago Field Office of the Secret Service investigating a variety of federal criminal violations including counterfeit currency, financial fraud, and threats against Secret Service protected persons. While assigned to the Chicago Field Office, he served as a supervisor on a year-long multi-agency undercover task force investigating USDA food stamp fraud throughout the Chicago area.

Prior to joining the Secret Service, Professor Piraino was a Special Agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (now the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) investigating arson for profit and federal firearms violations. Prior to that, he was a police officer in suburban Chicago for eight years.

Professor Piraino received a Bachelor of Science degree in Law Enforcement Administration from Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois, and a Master of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology from Governors State University, University Park, Illinois. Professor Piraino earned his Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration from Walden University. He is the recipient of numerous awards and citations throughout his 33 years as a sworn law enforcement officer.

Craig Stapley, Ph.D.

Dr. Stapley has been involved in the field of security studies for over 15 years and in International Relations and Comparative Politics for over 25 years. In that time, he has travelled extensively, spending time in Japan, China, the Soviet Union (in 1989), and Israel. He has also worked in government and casualty insurance fields.

Dr. Stapley received his B.A. in Japanese from Brigham Young University and was working in Oklahoma City when Timothy McVeigh staged the Oklahoma City Terrorist Bombing. Based on that experience and others, he returned to school to pursue graduate work. He completed a Master of Public Administration in 2001 and a Doctorate in Political Science with an emphasis on terrorist targeting from the University of Oklahoma in 2004.

Dr. Stapley taught at the University of Oklahoma from 2001 to 2004 as a Graduate Teaching Associate, teaching independent classes of American Government and International Relations in both traditional and online settings. He then taught at Kansas State University from 2005 to 2016 in traditional, online and video teleconference settings. While at Kansas State, he also directed the graduate program in Security Studies. Also while at Kansas State University, Dr. Stapley guest-lectured and conducted classes at the Army’s Command and General Staff College in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. He is currently an Associate Professor at Tiffin University. Dr. Stapley also has an unusual teaching background including teaching English as a Second Language as well as university classes in dance.

Dr. Stapley has presented scholarship at The Army’s School of Advanced Military Studies, and at professions conferences including the International Studies Association, the Peace Science Society, and the Southwest Social Science Association Conference.

His scholarship has appeared in such peer reviewed journals as the Open Journal of Political Science (2014), Journal of Politics (2014), International Interactions (2014), Global Security Studies (2012), and Contemporary Security Policy (2006). He has also contributed to the edited volumes Terrorism’s Unanswered Questions (2008), and The Handbook of Security (2006). Dr. Stapley has also published book reviews in the American Political Science Association Legislative Studies Section (2001).

Dr. Stapley has been a member of the editorial board of the refereed journal Global Security Studies as well as Research Associate at the Consortium for Small Arms Research, and Academic Fellow for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. He has won and been nominated for University wide awards for teaching and advising.