The CIA’s deputy director for intelligence for strategic programs will be teaching in the College of Charleston’s Department of Political Science starting in fall 2010. Mary Desjeans, Ph.D., is a CIA Scholar in Residence and will teach and conduct research during her two-year tour.

“Mary Desjeans will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in intelligence analysis and policy, as well as expertise in organizational management and leadership,” says Philip Jos, chair of the political science department. “She will be teaching in both our undergraduate program and in the Master of Public Administration program.”

Desjeans has been with the CIA for nearly 30 years, where she currently serves as the deputy director for intelligence for strategic programs, one of four seniors who oversee all aspects of CIA’s program analysis. She received her B.A. and M.A. in modern European history and her Ph.D. in 19th century Russian history.

While in the CIA, Desjeans held many assignments. Throughout the 1980s, she worked especially on Soviet political/military issues and the Communist Party leadership and attended the Armed Forces Staff College. In the early-to-mid 1990s, she served in a series of management positions, including the deputy division chief of the New States Division and Issue Manager for Transitioning States. During 1998-99, she served as special adviser to the ambassador at large for the new independent states at the Department of State. In 1999, she returned to the Directorate of Intelligence as the deputy director of the Office of Russian and European Analysis. Following that assignment, she was assigned to the Office of Policy Support as deputy director, with special responsibility for providing current intelligence support to the new Bush administration. From 2003 to 2005, she was the director of analysis in the CIA Counterterrorist Center. She then served as the director of the Office of Policy Support until 2008, when she assumed her current position.

“My years at the CIA have given me unique insight into US interactions around the world, as well as the crises that span that period, ranging from the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat through the dissolution of the Soviet Union, to the post-911 world of international counterterrorism,” Desjeans says. “I’m hoping that this intimate sense of history, combined with my years serving five Presidents will enable me to provide students with a vibrant sense of the role of intelligence in supporting US national security.”

Since the program started in 1985, CIA has sponsored officers at over 50 academic institutions, including Harvard, Princeton, Georgetown, University of South Carolina, University of Oregon, University of Kentucky, Texas A&M, Marquette University, Ohio State University and the military academies. Usually, there are 8-12 Officers in Residence each year at institutions across the country.  The program is administered by the Center for the Study of Intelligence, which seeks to promote study, debate, and understanding of the role of intelligence in American society.

According to Dr. Jos, “Dr. Desjeans will be teaching a course on Intelligence and National Security Policy this fall that asks some very fundamental questions—Are intelligence agencies compatible with democracy? How do President’s use intelligence? When should covert action be considered and what are the risks involved?”

For more information, contact Philip Jos at 843.953.5704 or josp@cofc.edu.