Lead Miss. FBI agent celebrates partnership with MSU

Robert Eikhoff, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Jackson Field Office, receives a cowbell from ��ɫ��Ƶ President Mark E. Keenum, right, Friday [Nov. 1] after touring numerous MSU research units. (Photo by Grace Cockrell)

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi’s lead FBI agent visited with ��ɫ��Ƶ President Mark E. Keenum and other university administrators Friday [Nov. 1] to reaffirm the agency’s partnership with the Magnolia State’s leading land-grant institution.

Robert Eikhoff, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Jackson Field Office, toured numerous MSU research units, including the Advanced Composites Institute, Raspet Flight Research Laboratory and Agricultural Autonomy Institute, and discussed how the agency and university can work together to build a “stronger fabric of cohesion” for the future.

“This has been a great opportunity for us to really share our appreciation for the partnership that we have with the school. It's uncommon to have this degree of relationship with academia, so we want to celebrate and honor that, and find pathways to have better points of collaboration,” Eikhoff said. “We recognize the importance of academia in our mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution. We have existential threats that only together are we able to mitigate and hopefully disrupt and dismantle.”

FBI Director Christopher Wray named Eikhoff special agent in charge of the Jackson bureau in March. Previously, Eikhoff served as a section chief in the Operational Technology Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington and in numerous counterterrorism-related positions.

Before joining the FBI, Eikhoff served in the U.S. Navy as a surface warfare officer and later worked in the credit and recruiting industries. He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems from Georgia State University.

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