Journey to the Center of the Mind

Journey to the Center of the Mind

James R. Fitzgerald '75 L E C
Supervisory Special Agent, FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit (ret.)

Lecture Details

Date: Thursday, October 25, 2018
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Ruth Pike Auditorium, 22 Biobehavioral Health Building

The event is free and open to the public.

View the press release.

About Jim Fitzgerald

Jim “Fitz” Fitzgerald remains an active criminal profiler and forensic linguist with his company, James R. Fitzgerald Associates, LLC, even after retiring in 2007 with 20 years in the FBI as a Supervisory Special Agent, along with 11 years before that as a police officer/detective/sergeant on the Bensalem Twp. (PA) Police Dept. During his 31-year law enforcement career, he successfully investigated numerous homicides, sexual assaults, and other violent crimes, as well as matters of international notoriety to include the Unabom, Jon Benet Ramsey, Anthrax, and DC Sniper cases as a profiler and/or a forensic linguist. Jim presently serves as adjunct professor at two US schools of higher learning. They are Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY, and Richard Stockton University of New Jersey in Galloway Township, NJ. He lectures at other schools and institutions both nationally and internationally.

Jim is one of two technical advisors for CBS-TV’s Criminal Minds, was one of two technical advisors for Fox TV’s Sleepy Hollow, was co-host and executive producer of A&E’s Killer Profile, and continues to make appearances on cable news networks as well as national radio shows, internet programs, podcasts, and has been featured in numerous traditional newspaper and magazine articles.

Jim was one of several renowned forensic experts on CBS television’s four-hour documentary series The Case of: Jon Benet Ramsey. It aired in September 2016.

In addition, Jim’s role in helping solve the Unabom investigation was highlighted in Discovery Channel’s scripted mini-series Manhunt: Unabomber. It aired for the first time over eight weeks beginning August 1, 2017. It is now available on DVD, Netflix, and Amazon. In this very popular and well-received scripted limited series, the actor Sam Worthington portrays FBI Supervisory Special Agent Jim “Fitz” Fitzgerald. Jim also served as Consulting Producer on the series.

In the Spring of 2018 Jim appeared as one of the forensic experts on the Oxygen Network’s The Case of: Caylee Anthony. In the Fall of 2018 he will appear as one of the forensic experts and co-hosts on the Reelz Network’s Notorious.

Jim is also the successful author of three books. They are each titled A Journey to the Center of the Mind. Each book is separately numbered and sub-titled. Book I of Jim’s four-part memoir series relates to his youthful coming-of-age years in Philadelphia and beyond, to include his four years at Penn State University; it was published in September 2014. JCM Book II, which covers his 11 years as a police officer/detective/sergeant in Bensalem Township, PA; it was published in February 2017. In JCM Book III, published in July 2017, Jim writes of his first ten years in the FBI, from Quantico to New York City, back to Quantico as a brand new profiler, and his eventual assignment to the Unabom Task Force. (JCM Book IV, recounting the very busy second half of Jim’s FBI career, and a bit beyond into his “retirement,” is scheduled for publication in 2019.)

James R. Fitzgerald is a graduate of Penn State University with a B.S. in Law Enforcement and Corrections. He holds an M.S. from Villanova University in Human Organizational Science, and an M.S. from Georgetown University in Linguistics.