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ITAC Speakers

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(Ret.) SA Jonny Grusing, F.B.I.

Jonny Grusing was a Special Agent (SA) with the FBI’s Denver Division from 1996 to 2021. For 23 years of his career, he worked violent crime matters to include missing persons, serial killers, federal jurisdiction homicides and mass attacks.  From 2008 until his retirement, he served as the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) Coordinator for the division.  SA Grusing received extensive training from the profiling unit during these years and employed that training in addressing the serious violent crime cases in Colorado. From 2013 through the present, he has taught hundreds of seminars on profiling serial killers and preventing mass attacks using the sound BAU principles. He is now Director of Security for the Douglas County School District in Colorado.
 
Former SA Grusing now addresses the daily challenge of keeping 63,000 students and 8,500 staff members safe in the 90 schools he supervises.  He works closely with four different law enforcement departments, building leaders and mental health support to prevent students from continuing down Pathways of Violence through a variety of measures.  

KOSTAS A. KATSAVDKIS, PhD, ABPP

Kostas A. Katsavdakis, Ph.D., ABPP is a Licensed Psychologist and Diplomat in Forensic Psychology with the American Board of Professional Psychology. He has extensive experience in Threat Assessment and Management, Forensic Evaluations, the Clinical Assessment and Treatment of juveniles and adults.  Dr. Katsavdakis is retained by Prosecutors, Defense Attorneys and the State/Federal Court to evaluate defendants charged with violent offenses.  Dr. Katsavdakis conducts threat assessments/management across contexts, including at the request of the United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York for CT matters, workplace targeted violence, K-12 settings, stalking related and campus situations.  Dr. Katsavdakis has presented nationally on topics such as Threat Assessment and Management and is currently an Associate Professor-Adjunct at John Jay College of Criminal Justice where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in psychology of criminal behavior, forensic psychological testing, assessment of psychopathy and psychology/law. Dr. Katsavdakis earned his B.A. from Bernard M. Baruch College in 1991, and his Ph.D. from the California School of Professional Psychology, San Diego in 1996. He completed 2 post-doctoral fellowships, one at the Karl Menninger School of Psychiatry and Mental Health Sciences in Topeka, Kansas. He earned his Diplomate in Forensic Psychology under the American Board of Professional Psychology in 2013.

ROBYN POWELL, FBI BAU

Robyn Powell is an FBI profiler and Supervisory Special Agent in Behavioral Analysis Unit-1 (BAU-1). She supports BAU-1’s mission of preventing terrorism and targeted violence through the application of behaviorally-based operational support, training, and research. Prior to BAU-1, Robyn was a member of the national security squad in the FBI’s Boise office from 2015-2021. In her 22 years of FBI service, Robyn has gained extensive experience investigating terrorism matters both domestically and abroad. She completed an immersive Arabic language and culture program and spent five years supporting counterterrorism efforts in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Robyn responded to terrorist attacks in Boston and Chattanooga and led two High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group deployments. Her first FBI assignment was the Amerithrax Task Force, investigating the 2001 anthrax mailings. Robyn holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a M.A. in forensic psychology from the University of California-Irvine, and a B.S. in chemistry from Boise State University.

MATT NIECE, PhD

Dr. Niece is the Director of Counseling Services and Interim Executive Director of Health Services at Boise State University. He has over 10 years of experience as a Clinical Counselor and has served the communities of Boise, Meridian, and Nampa through work at various counseling agencies. He maintains a private practice in Boise. Dr. Niece is a Certified Advanced Specialist in Grief and Loss Counseling and co-owns a consulting practice where he assesses the grief, loss, and trauma in wrongful death cases and provides expert witness testimony in these trials. He is a Counselor Educator who continues to adjunct at Idaho State University, and he presents frequently at the local, state, and national level on topics of grief and loss, trauma, and resilience. Dr. Niece is also a member of the campus threat assessment and management team at Boise State University and has a deep appreciation for all first responders, law enforcement, and all other professionals on the front lines of crisis scenarios.

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