CIA Director John Brennan to Speak at OU

By <a href=“http://www.ou.edu/publicaffairs.html">Public Affairs,</a> (405) 325-1701

CIA Director Brennan will speak at the Presidents Associates dinner and meet with students for an informal discussion Feb. 26.

John Brennan, sworn in as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency on March 8, 2013, will speak at a President’s Associates dinner at the University of Oklahoma on Wednesday, Feb. 26. Prior to dinner, Brennan will meet with OU students for an informal discussion.

Before being named Director, Brennan served for four years at the White House as Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism. In that role, he advised the President on counterterrorism strategy and helped coordinate the U.S. Government’s approach to homeland security, including its policies for responding to terrorism, cyber attacks, natural disasters and pandemics.

“It is a privilege for our community to hear from one of the longest and most successful leaders of the intelligence community,” said OU President David L. Boren.

Brennan began his government career with the CIA, where he worked from 1980 to 2005. He spent most of his early career in the agency’s main analytic arm, the Directorate of Intelligence, specializing in the Near East and South Asia before directing counterterrorism analysis in the early 1990s. In 1994 and 1995 he was the agency’s intelligence briefer to President Bill Clinton.

Brennan completed an assignment as Chief of Station in the Middle East, then served as Chief of Staff from 1999 to 2001 to George Tenet, who was then director of the CIA. Brennan also worked as Deputy Executive Director of the CIA until 2003, when he began leading a multi-agency effort to establish what would become the National Counterterrorism Center, for which he would become the interim director in 2004. Brennan retired from the CIA in 2005 and worked in the private sector for three years.

Brennan attended Fordham University and graduated in 1977, with a bachelor’s degree in political science. During his time at the university, he studied abroad at the American University in Cairo, Egypt. He also attended the University of Texas at Austin and graduated in 1980 with a master’s degree in government with a concentration in Middle Eastern Studies.

Limited seating is available by reservation for OU students, faculty and staff, with overflow seating available to the public. For reservations, more information and accommodations on the basis of disability, please call OU Public Affairs at (405) 325-3784 or email specialevents@ou.edu.