Asha Rangappa is the Assistant Dean and Senior Lecturer at Yale University’s Jackson School of Global Affairs, having previously held the position of Associate Dean at Yale Law School. Before her academic roles, she worked as a Special Agent in the FBI's New York Division, specializing in counterintelligence investigations. In this capacity, she focused on assessing national security threats, conducting classified investigations on suspected foreign agents, and engaging in undercover operations. During her time with the FBI, Asha gained expertise in electronic surveillance, interrogation techniques, firearms, and the use of deadly force.
Her academic interests center around national security law, information warfare, propaganda, and leadership ethics. Asha graduated cum laude from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and pursued a Fulbright scholarship in Bogotá, Colombia. She obtained her law degree from Yale Law School and served as a law clerk for the Honorable Juan R. Torruella on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She is admitted to the State Bar of New York and Connecticut.
Asha is also a prolific writer, contributing op-eds to prominent publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. Additionally, she is a respected legal and national security analyst, frequently appearing on NPR, BBC, and various television networks. She also serves as an editor for Just Security and contributes to former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s legal newsletter, CAFE Insider.
How does a first-generation child of Indian immigrants from southern Virginia end up as a Special Agent for the FBI? Asha Rangappa describes her unique (and often humorous) career path and the personal challenges she encountered along the way, offering inspiring life lessons for anyone who’s considered the road less traveled.
How do people get away with bad behavior without being held accountable? In this thought-provoking talk, Asha Rangappa shows how we can think of these complicit actors as the human "scaffolding" who allow corruption to take root and misconduct to flourish at the top. Asha’s presentation offers lessons for managers and policymakers to develop norms, codes of conduct and oversight mechanisms that can prevent corruption and misconduct from taking root and empower those in a position to stop it.
Do you want to know what makes your friends, family, coworkers – and most importantly, yourself – tick? As an accredited Enneagram instructor trained at the Enneagram Institute in New York, Asha leads an interactive workshop on the inner workings of the nine personality types, their “blind spots,” and what makes them shine. This is a great session for groups interested in personal growth or for leaders and managers looking for new ways to develop their teams.
The 2016 presidential election highlighted the ability of Russian intelligence to exploit social media to target and manipulate the American public. Former FBI counterintelligence agent Asha Rangappa explains how Russia adapted Cold War tactics for the Information Age, and why the growing political fragmentation in America facilitates its efforts and has serious implications for the future of democracy.
Why is it so hard to prosecute a sitting, or even a former, president? In this informative, accessible, and illuminating talk, Asha uses current and historical examples to explain why the design of the Constitution, and the awesome powers of the presidency, make any occupier of the Oval Office a potentially wily defendant.
