The director of homeland security for Northrop Grumman Corporation, Robert Gearhart, has been elected chairman of The Business Council’s Homeland Security Council.

Gearhart has 25 years of experience in security and systems integration. He will work closely with members of the Homeland Security Council to help New York businesses explore and obtain opportunities in the industry.

The council's next meeting will be Tuesday, March 29 at the University Club in Albany from 2 – 4 p.m. There will be a cocktail reception immediately following the meeting.

The agenda includes speakers state Senator Michael Balboni (R-Nassau), chairman of the Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs Committee, and Russell Bessette, executive director of the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR).

Thomas Triscari, Jr. from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Colonel Edward Badolato, executive vice president at Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure, Inc., will also speak at the meeting.

Participants will also discuss the council's upcoming event in Washington D.C. The May event will introduce members of the Council’s Homeland Security Committee to New York’s congressional delegation and key agency staff of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

For more information, online registration and updates, visit the council's Web site at www.homelandsecuritynys.org.