By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
Late last year, Renae McDermott became the first woman to be appointed as Special Agent in Charge of the Knoxville FBI division.
It’s a significant achievement sine only 12% of the senior-ranking positions in the FBI are held by women, WBIR reports.
McDermott’s career with the FBI began in 1989, holding positions in Dallas, Albuquerque and Washington D.C. headquarters.
Before the appointment, McDermott served as special assistant to FBI James Comey.
When McDermott was growing up in Pittsburgh, she wanted to be a farmer. But while in college, she discovered a desire to help children.
“I knew I wanted to be a public servant after I went through the not being a dairy farmer, a veterinarian or a teacher. I ended up finding a good niche with the FBI,” McDermott said.
While she has worked in counter-terrorism and cyber crimes, most of her work involving fighting violent crime.
“The most proud (moment of my career) was probably an investigation that happened when I was initially an agent in Miami. A kidnapping of a mother and two sons at Christmastime. We worked diligently on it for a week and we recovered them alive. That has been and will be one of the highlights early on in my career,” she said.
