Michael Chertoff, former United States Secretary of Homeland Security, will speak on security in the 21st century in the season’s fourth program of the Summer Institute speaker series, on Thursday, July 29, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center.

As a Secretary in the Cabinet of President Bush, Mr. Chertoff led a 218,000-person department with a budget of $50 billion. He also served periodically on the National Security and Homeland Security Councils, and on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

Prior to his appointment to the Cabinet, Mr. Chertoff served from 2003 to 2005 on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Before becoming a federal judge, Mr. Chertoff was the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. In that position, he oversaw the investigation of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and formed the Enron Task Force, which produced more than 20 convictions, including those of chief executive Jeffrey Skilling and Kenneth Lay.

He now is chairman and managing principal of the Chertoff Group, a security and risk management advisory firm with offices in Washington, D.C. and New York. He is also senior of counsel at Covington and Burling in Washington, D.C., and a member of the white collar defense and investigations practice group

Mr. Chertoff’s talk will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Hebrew Center, on Centre street in Vineyard Haven. Ample time will be provided for questions from the audience. Admission to all programs in the Summer Institute’s speaker series is $15.