Fitzgerald has been fighting terrorism since 1988, when he became the assistant U.S. attorney in New York City. In that capacity, he prosecuted Mafia figure John Gambino, as well as Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman and 11 others charged in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
In his role as the national security coordinator for the Office of the U.S. Attorney, he investigated Osama bin Laden and was chief counsel in prosecutions related to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
Fitzgerald was the United States attorney for the Northern District of Illinois from 2001 to 2012, convicting two successive corrupt governors of Illinois and leading the investigation into the identity leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame. He is currently a partner in the Chicago office of the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates. He is also a member of the Amherst College Board of Trustees.
This event is sponsored by the Economics Department and the Amherst Political Union.