United States: Director Christopher Wray has named Michael D. Nordwall as the executive assistant director of the Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Mr. Nordwall will oversee all criminal and cyber investigations worldwide, as well as international operations, critical incident responses, and assistance to victims.
Mr. Nordwall most recently served as the assistant director of the Criminal Investigative Division at Headquarters and brings more than 20 years of experience in the Bureau to this position.
Mr. Nordwall began his career with the FBI as a special agent in 2002 in the Phoenix Field Office, working counterterrorism, violent crime, crimes in Indian Country, and organized crime matters. In 2009, he was promoted to supervisory special agent in the Operations Unit of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate at Headquarters. In 2011, he transferred to the Tampa Field Office in Florida to oversee an organized crime drug enforcement strike force.
In 2014, Mr. Nordwall was selected as an associate director in the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Executive Office. He served as the primary representative for federal law enforcement and oversaw an attorney general program to disrupt and dismantle the most significant criminal organizations.
Mr. Nordwall returned to the Tampa Field Office in 2016 to lead the Joint Terrorism Task Force. In 2018, he reported to the Denver Field Office as the assistant special agent in charge of the Criminal Branch and all Colorado resident agencies.
In 2019, Mr. Nordwall was promoted to chief of the Transnational Organized Crime Global Section in the Criminal Investigative Division at Headquarters, which manages investigations and intelligence collection against transnational criminal organizations. In 2021, he was promoted to special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh Field Office before returning to Headquarters in 2023 to serve as the assistant director of CID.
Mr. Nordwall earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Auburn University in Alabama. Prior to joining the FBI, he worked in the petrochemical industry.
