Andrew Macpherson '99

Since graduating from Mercyhurst in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in intelligence studies, Andrew Macpherson has made a name for himself as a cyber crime expert. Besides directing the Justiceworks Technical Analysis Group at the University of New Hampshire, he is a cyber crime adviser to the New Hampshire Department of Justice and has worked as an adviser to the Department of Homeland Security National Cyber Security Division.

Last January Macpherson was named one of the "Top 40 People Under 40" in New Hampshire for 2007 by the Union Leader newspaper, which lauded him for "helping teach hundreds of police officers statewide how to catch criminals preying on people over the Internet."

Macpherson credits much of his career success to Mercyhurst, which he said is recognized globally as a major player in the field of intelligence education.

Growing up in Canada, Macpherson was in business school in Canada when he developed an interest in intelligence and began researching educational opportunities online. That led him to Mercyhurst, where he fast-forwarded by doubling up on coursework and earning his degree in two years at the age of 29.

It was through Mercyhurst that Macpherson earned the first non-lawyer internship at the United Nations Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. From there, he earned his master's degree at the London School of Economics and took a position at Dartmouth's newly formed counter-terrorism institute (The Institute for Security Technology Studies) in 2000.

Macpherson said he gets back to Mercyhurst on occasion when he visits with his wife, Erie native Beth (Hoffman) Macpherson, whom he married in 2001. They are the parents of a daughter, Emily.