Scott McHugh

• Executive Program Manager
• Institute of Homeland Security, Sam Houston State University (SHSU)

Scott is a founding member of the executive team that created the Institute for Homeland Security at Sam Houston State University (SHSU) in Texas.
For 24 years before joining SHSU he was Vice President, Global Asset Protection at Walmart Stores Inc, and Global Director Crisis Management & Chief Security Officer (CSO) at LyondellBasell Chemical Inc. He was honored to be named to “SECURITY” magazine’s list of “Top Corporate CSO’s in the US” for 2020 & 2021.
Before entering the private sector, Scott served in the US Foreign Service, Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DSS) retiring as a Special Agent-in-Charge. His DSS posts included Rome, Beirut, Khartoum, Moscow, Algiers, as well as the US.
After September 11th he was called back to government service to be a member of the Senior Executive Service of the new Department of Homeland Security / Transportation Security Administration where he pioneered the development of behavior based anti-terrorism screening strategies to protect the nations aviation and railroad network from terrorist attack.
He began his career as a military intelligence officer in the US Coast Guard Reserve.
Scott earned a Master of Political Management degree at The George Washington University, and a Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence from the US National Intelligence University at the Defense Intelligence Agency. He completed the Executive Business Leadership graduate certificate program at Cornell University and received his bachelor’s degree in administration of justice and psychology while attending his beloved University of Pittsburgh.