Looking at National Intelligence: Perspectives of a Former Outsider

Wednesday, April 14, 2010 12:25-1:30pm

Levitt Room, Milne Hall, UAlbany Downtown Campus
135 Western Avenue, Albany, NY

Guest Speaker
Richard Willing
Senior Analysis Projects Coordinator
Office of the Director of National Intelligence


From March 2008 to February 2009, Richard Willing was press secretary and public affairs director for the Director of National Intelligence. He is currently senior projects coordinator for the DNI's Directorate of Analysis. As a reporter, Willing covered war, science and the law, national security, and the auto industry from Washington, D.C for 21 years. Beginning in 1997, he was a national reporter at USA TODAY, specializing in civil law and criminal cases involving DNA evidence. He also covered intelligence. His beats included the White House, the U.S. Supreme Court, three presidential campaigns, the American auto industry, pro football charities, and the National Hockey League. Special assignments included the 1990-91 Gulf War, Northern Ireland's "Troubles," a biography of Detroit's first black mayor, the 50th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, and the opening of the Smithsonian Institution's human skull archive.
Willing was raised in suburbs of Chicago, Detroit and New York, and holds honors degrees from Yale College and the Kiplinger Program of The Ohio State University. In 2007, Willing was made an honorary citizen of the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Dr. Jim Steiner, Public Service Professor at Rockefeller College, will provide commentary. Dr. Steiner teaches graduate-level courses in the craft of intelligence, with emphasis on intelligence analysis for homeland security. Policy Conversations are open to all. There is no admission fee. Please feel free to bring a brown bag lunch and join the discussion.