Author and national biometrics expert John D. Woodward Jr. will present”Biometrics: Identifying a Vision”at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 22, in the West Virginia University Mountainlairs Gluck Theatre. The free presentation is part of the Biometrics Lecture Series sponsored by WVU s BiometricKnowledgeCenter.

Woodward will address broad issues surrounding biometrics, or the use of a persons physical characteristics or traits as human authentication, in an age of increasing concerns about security. He will draw on his extensive experience with current U.S. government biometric initiatives to provide a vision for how biometrics fits into the current Information Age.

A senior policy analyst at RAND , a public policy research organization, Woodward works on a variety of national security, intelligence and technology policy issues. He previously served as an operations officer for the Central Intelligence Agency in several overseas assignments.

He has testified on biometrics before Congress, and his articles on the subject have appeared in publications such as Legal Times, Washington Post, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Privacy&Security Law Report, Proceedings of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, United States Law Week, and University of Pittsburgh Law Review, among others.

He recently authored the book,”Biometrics: Identity Assurance in the Information Age,”published by McGraw-Hill.

Woodward received his juris doctor degree magna cum laude from GeorgetownUniversityLawCenter and was a Thouron Scholar at the London School of Economics, University of London, where he received his masters of science degree in economics. He received his undergraduate degree in economics from the WhartonSchool, University of Pennsylvania.

Registration for the lecture is requested. Please send name and email address to tammy.pauley@mail.wvu.edu or call 304-293-8281.