A law enforcement officer and psychologist from Iowa State University will become the Virginia Tech Police Department's deputy chief of police as well as its first director of threat management services.

Gene Deisinger, 44, is currently the associate director of public safety and deputy chief of police at Iowa State. He will join Virginia Tech on Aug. 17.

Tech police Chief Wendell Flinchum said 102 people from across the country applied for the deputy chief job, which became vacant in May when Tom Foster returned to the Virginia State Police after just more than a year at Tech.

"I'm very excited that Gene is joining us and bringing his expertise in campus law enforcement and threat assessment to our community," Flinchum said. "I'm looking forward to working with him."

As Tech's deputy chief, Deisinger will oversee the daily operations of the police department.

As threat management director, he will oversee and coordinate university efforts for campus violence prevention and threat assessment. He will lead the threat assessment team that was created in December 2007, Flinchum said.

The role of threat assessment director wasn't advertised as part of the deputy chief's job, but it made sense to give Deisinger that responsibility because of his background, Flinchum said.

According to a news release from Tech, Deisinger has managed and supervised threat cases and protective details for governmental dignitaries, public figures and members of the university community.

Also, he is a co-author of "The Handbook for Campus Threat Assessment & Management Teams," a resource designed for institutions of higher education.

A licensed psychologist who earned both his master of science and doctorate in counseling psychology from Iowa State, Deisinger worked in the school's student counseling center from 1989 to 1998, eventually becoming the assistant director for clinical services.

Foster was the first to serve in the position of deputy chief at Tech. He spent 19 years with state police before joining Tech in March 2008. He returned to state police to take a job as a special agent with the Bureau of Criminal Investigation.