Gaston Hall played host to the current secretary of Homeland Security as well as her two predecessors Tuesday morning.

NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell moderated “The Department of Homeland Security: Year Eight,” which was coordinated by the Aspen Institute and Georgetown University.

Following opening remarks from University President John DeGioia, Mitchell spent approximately an hour aiming questions at current Secretary Janet Napolitano, her immediate predecessor Michael Chertoff, and the first secretary of the DHS Tom Ridge.

On the eighth anniversary of the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, all three secretaries stressed the success of the department’s evolution and effectiveness in protecting the country from terrorism.

The DHS “has been successful up until now,” Ridge succinctly asserted.

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President Obama plans to nominate David Heyman, an adjunct professor in security studies at the School of Foreign Service, as the Assistant Secretary of Policy for the Department of Homeland Security.

Here’s what Security Debrief, a blog about homeland security, had to say about him and the position:

As the chief policy officer in DHS, Heyman will be responsible for helping craft the department’s role as the steward of the national homeland security enterprise. In particular, he will have to play an important part in building trust and confidence and the basis for joint action with other federal agencies; the private sector; state, local, and tribal governments; and our international partners. Perhaps most challenging of all he will have to explain and defend the department’s policies and programs to the myriad of Congressional committees that oversee DHS affairs.

Those of us who know him well, know that he is well-qualified for the challenges ahead.

Heyman previously served as senior advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Energy.  This semester he taught a course on “Science, Technology and Security.”