Anderson Jr.

Robert Anderson Jr. was appointed Executive Assistant Director (EAD) of the Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch in March 2014. In this position, he oversees all FBI criminal and cyber investigations worldwide, international operations, critical incident response, and victim assistance.

Mr. Anderson most recently served as Assistant Director of the Counterintelligence Division beginning in August 2012; prior to that, he was the division’s Deputy Assistant Director for operations.

Mr. Anderson joined the FBI in 1995 and reported to the Washington Field Office (WFO), where he worked narcotics and violent crime cases. He then served on the Hostage Rescue Team and completed deployments to more than 20 countries and war zones.

After becoming a supervisor in the Counterintelligence Division in 2001, Mr. Anderson coordinated several major People’s Republic of China espionage cases involving the Department of Energy’s (DOE) nuclear weapons laboratories, including the investigation of Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist Wen Ho Lee. Mr. Anderson also managed the program that placed FBI Special Agents in DOE labs.

As Unit Chief, he oversaw the management of nuclear proliferation and espionage cases, including the investigation of export broker Philip Cheng. This investigation led to multiple cases being opened and the arrests of 16 people for dual-use technology transfers.

Mr. Anderson returned to WFO in 2004, first as supervisor of its global foreign counterintelligence squad and later as supervisor of one of its espionage squads. In 2007, Mr. Anderson was promoted to Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Counterespionage Branch at WFO. In this role, he oversaw the indictment and arrest of multiple defendants for espionage and related offenses, including an investigation that resulted in one of the first arrests, prosecutions, and incarcerations of a U.S. citizen committing espionage on behalf of China.

Mr. Anderson returned to Headquarters in 2008 to serve as Chief of the Counterespionage Section. During the next year, he led the investigation into espionage by former CIA agent Harold James Nicholson and his son, Nathan, which resulted in Nicholson’s re-arrest and prosecution of both father and son for espionage. Mr. Anderson was also detailed for three months in 2009 as the Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Albuquerque Division.

In May 2010, Mr. Anderson was appointed Special Agent in Charge of the Intelligence Division at WFO, where he led the collection, coordination, and production and dissemination of intelligence information from WFO to the rest of the FBI and its U.S. Intelligence Community partners.

Before joining the FBI, Mr. Anderson was a Delaware State Trooper for nearly nine years. He served in the uniform patrol division, the criminal investigative unit, and the aviation section. Mr. Anderson, who is a pilot and a paramedic, was named the Delaware State Police Trooper of the Year in 1990—the force’s highest honor—for attempting to rescue individuals who were trapped in a burning home in 1989.

Robert
Anderson Jr.
Executive Assistant Director, Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

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