Sir Leonard James (Joe) Hooper (23 July 1914 – 19 February 1994) was director of the British

signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ( ...

agency,

GCHQ Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Unit ...

, a post he held from 1965 to 1973.

Career

Educated at

Alleyn's School Alleyn's School is a 4–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Church of England, day school and sixth form in Dulwich, London, England. It is a registered charity and was originally part of Ed ...

in South East

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms w ...

, Hooper joined the

Government Code and Cypher School Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Unit ...

in August 1938, and was based at

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He stayed on with the organisation after the war, which became GCHQ, and, after five years as deputy director, served as its director from January 1965 to November 1973. In the mid-1970s he served as the

Intelligence Co-ordinator The Intelligence Co-ordinator, later Security and Intelligence Co-ordinator was a senior post in the Cabinet Office of the British Civil Service that oversaw the intelligence services and their relationship to the government. Post holders *1968–1 ...

in the Cabinet Office, where he acted as a general overseer of the UK Intelligence Community.

References

1914 births 1994 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Directors of the Government Communications Headquarters Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Bletchley Park people Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford People educated at Alleyn's School {{crypto-bio-stub