Peter Boynton's name isn't well-known to most state residents. But as the state's deputy commissioner of emergency management and homeland security, he's at the center of the action whenever a hurricane threatens the state, an earthquake rumbles or a snowstorm barrels up the coast.
Boynton announced Wednesday that he's leaving his post to take a position leading a new institute on homeland security at Northeastern University.
"Peter and I got to know each other well through countless hours spent at the Emergency Operation Center through snow storms, an earthquake and a hurricane,'' Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said. "I have been continually impressed with his ability to coordinate the state's efforts before, during and after an emergency, his insight and experience, and his ability to stay calm under pressure. Peter will be sorely missed at the EOC, but I have no doubt he will be an invaluable resource for students at Northeastern University."
Boynton said his decision to leave is bittersweet. He says he'll miss the teamwork of the emergency operations center; in fact, on several of those long days during the recent storm, he said he almost reconsidered and decided to stay. "The offer came in before the hurricane and I thought, 'how can I leave a team like this?'''
But Boynton concluded the opportunity at Northeastern was too great to pass up. The appeal of working in an academic setting that will allow him to take the experience he learned in the field and bring it to a new audience ultimately tipped the balance for him. He will oversee the Geroge J. Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security, located on the university's Burlington campus.
"I leave with mixed emotions,'' Boynton said this afternoon. "I felt like I was part of a very special and talented team."
State Rep. Steve Dargan, co-chairman of the legislature's public safety committee, praised Boynton's ability to work with both Republicans and Democrats and said his "professionalism and competance" will be missed.
Boynton was appointed commissioner of the department by then-Gov. M. Jodi Rell in 2009. A graduate of the Coast Guard Academy and Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, Boynton served in the U.S. Coast Guard for 28 years. He also served as security director at Bradley Airport for the Transportation Security Administration.
On July 1, the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security was folded into a new state agency, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection. With the consolidation, Boynton's title changed from commissioner to deputy commissioner of the newly merged agency, but he said that played no role in his decision to leave.
Boynton's final day in Connecticut will be Sept. 21.