Brigadier General (Res.) Professor Jacob Nagel heads the Center for Security Science and Technology (CSST), which is part of the Peter Munk Research Institute (ADRI). With 40 years of experience in government and intelligence, he teaches defense R&D strategy and policy as well as systems engineering. 

Immediately prior to returning to his alma mater, Brig. Gen. (Res.) Nagel served as head of Israel’s National Security Council and as Israel’s acting national security advisor under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In that capacity, he met with world leaders including former U.S. Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump and current U.S. President Joe Biden, and led the negotiations for the historic U.S.-Israel $38 billion military aid package. 

From 2011-2015, he led the Strategic and Defense Policy Directorate at Israel’s National Security Council. Prior to that, he held many positions in the Directorate of Defense Research and Development in Israel’s Ministry of Defense, where he headed the committee that decided to develop Iron Dome.