Longtime CIA official John McLaughlin to receive 32nd William Oliver Baker Award

John McLaughlin, a former acting director of central intelligence (DCI) who spent three decades championing the development of intelligence analysis at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), has been selected to receive the 32^nd William Oliver Baker Award, Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) Chairman Letitia Long announced on February 10.

Ms. Long said, “John McLaughlin is the consummate public servant, a man of great conviction and humility who I am so pleased to see receive this recognition. John’s leadership, resolve, and willingness to share his passion for the craft of intelligence have benefited countless professionals at CIA and across the Intelligence Community. He has had a profound and enduring impact on how our nation conducts intelligence, and I look forward to honoring him at the Baker Award Dinner in June.”

As deputy director of central intelligence (DDCI) between October 2000 and his retirement from government in November 2004 (including a stint as acting DCI in summer 2004), McLaughlin helped guide the CIA through one of the its most tumultuous periods, marked by Al Qaeda’s attack on September 11, 2001; the inconclusive search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in 2003; and the preliminary stages of the Intelligence Community’s (IC) reorganization under the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA), signed by President George W. Bush in December 2004.

McLaughlin’s CIA career began with a focus on European, Russian and Eurasian issues in the Directorate of Intelligence in 1972. He later became director of European Analysis and director of Slavic and Eurasian Analysis. As the agency’s deputy director for intelligence from 1997 to 2000, McLaughlin created the Senior Analytic Service, a CIA career track that enables analysts to rise to very senior rank without branching into management. In 2000, he founded the Sherman Kent School for Intelligence Analysis, an institution dedicated to teaching the history, mission and essential skills of the analytic profession to incoming CIA employees.

Today, McLaughlin is the distinguished practitioner in residence in the Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of the Johns Hopkins University, where he earned his master of arts in international relations in 1966. He teaches a course on American intelligence and publishes widely on counterterrorism, proliferation, homeland security, American defense policy, the Middle East, and energy issues. He is chairman of the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation, which raises funds for the educational and other support of children and families who lose a parent in CIA service. McLaughlin also serves on the board of trustees for Noblis Corporation.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said, “John is a superb selection for the William Oliver Baker Award. He is a legend within the CIA and the IC’s analytic community, and his professional accomplishments are only outdone by his service to the IC workforce, with initiatives like establishing a Senior Analytic Service – creating a career path for expert analysts – and founding the Sherman Kent School for Intelligence Analysis, an institution that shapes the next generation of analysts. As a long-time professional colleague and friend, I am a huge admirer of John for his professional competence, broad-gauged intellect, and his impeccable integrity. Congratulations to John for receiving this honor.”

The Baker Award, which recognizes sustained contributions and exemplary service to intelligence and national security affairs, is one of the most highly regarded honors given outside of government. Recipients are selected by the Baker Award Selection Committee, comprised of members from INSA’s leadership, board of directors, and board of advisors.

The INSA William Oliver Baker Award Dinner will be held on Friday, June 10, in Washington, DC.

Source: INSA