WASHINGTON --
A 24-year FBI veteran with extensive counterterrorism experience, Sean Joyce, has been named the law enforcement agency's new deputy director.
Elevated to the No. 2 post within the FBI by Director Robert Mueller, Joyce replaces Timothy Murphy, who is retiring after 23 years with the bureau.
Since last year, Joyce has been executive assistant director of the national security branch, responsible for the FBI's national security and intelligence operations.
He earned the Attorney General's Award for Exceptional Service in 2004 for work on a counterterrorism squad in Dallas. In 2008, he was named chief of the counterterrorism division's international terrorism operations section, with responsibility for international terrorism matters within the United States.
Earlier in his career he was a member of the bureau's Hostage Rescue Team.
