William Oliver Studeman (born January 16, 1940) is a retired admiral of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

and former deputy director of the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

, with two extended periods as acting Director of Central Intelligence. As deputy director of Central Intelligence, he served in the administrations of George H. W. Bush and

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

under three directors of Central Intelligence,

Robert Gates Robert Michael Gates (born September 25, 1943) is an American intelligence analyst and university president who served as the 22nd United States secretary of defense from 2006 to 2011. He was originally appointed by president George W. Bush a ...

, R. James Woolsey Jr., and John M. Deutch. Studeman retired from the navy in 1995 after almost 35 years of service. Between 1988 and 1992 he was director of the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collect ...

; he was the Director of

Naval Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

, from September 1985 to July 1988. On 6 February 2004, Studeman was appointed to the

Iraq Intelligence Commission The Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction is a panel created by Executive Order 13328, signed by U.S. President George W. Bush in February 2004. The impetus for the Commission l ...

, an independent panel tasked with investigating U.S. intelligence surrounding the United States'

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

and Iraq's

weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous individuals or cause great damage to artificial structures (e.g., buildings), natu ...

(WMD). Studeman retired in 2005 from

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...

Corporation as vice president and deputy general manager of mission systems. In this position, he focused on strategies, programs, business development, and marketing related to intelligence and information warfare, as well as corporate cross-sector integration, and on managing technology partnerships and concepts related to NetCentricity ISR, IO/ IW and advanced command environments. He served in this position for approximately 9 years. Studeman has served on corporate boards, and government, university and corporate advisory boards. He was recently a commissioner on the Presidential Commission on WMD, and is currently serving on National Advisory Board on Bio-Security and the

Public Interest Declassification Board The Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) is an advisory committee established by the United States Congress with the official mandate of promoting the fullest possible public access to a thorough, accurate, and reliable documentary record o ...

. He is also a member of the Defense Science Board as well as the

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of natio ...

Advisory Board,

Defense Intelligence Agency The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is an intelligence agency and combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense, specializing in defense and military intelligence. A component of the Department of Defense (DoD) and the ...

Joint Military Intelligence College,

National Reconnaissance Office The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is a member of the United States Intelligence Community and an agency of the United States Department of Defense which designs, builds, launches, and operates the reconnaissance satellites of the U.S. fe ...

, national labs and other advisory boards. He is chairman of the board of the Naval Intelligence Foundations, and is a member of the board of the National Cryptologic Museum Foundation. In June 1962, he received a B.A. degree in history from the

University of the South The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee (), is a private Episcopal liberal arts college in Sewanee, Tennessee. It is owned by 28 southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church, and its School of Theology is an official seminary of ...

Sewanee, Tennessee Sewanee () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Franklin County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,535 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Tullahoma, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area. Sewanee is best known as the home of ...

. Studeman later earned an M.A. degree in public and international affairs from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GWU is the largest Higher educat ...

Elliott School of International Affairs The Elliott School of International Affairs (known as the Elliott School or ESIA) is the professional school of international relations, foreign policy, and international development of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. It is ...

in June 1973. While in the navy, he also was a distinguished graduate of the Naval War College and National War College, as well as the recipient of an honorary doctorate in strategic intelligence from the Defense Intelligence College. He will receive a second honorary doctorate degree this fall from the University of the South. Studeman is the recipient of numerous service commendations and citations, including the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with two Gold Stars. In 2007 Studeman was awarded the William Oliver Baker Award by the

Intelligence and National Security Alliance The Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) is a non-profit, nonpartisan 501(c)(6) professional organization based in Arlington Virginia for public and private sector members of the United States Intelligence Community. History ...

. He also has received service medals from the Governments of France, Brazil, and South Korea. His son, Michael, is a career Navy two-star admiral.

References

External links

Studeman's nomination as NSA director
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Studeman, William O. 1940 births Living people Directors of the National Security Agency Deputy Directors of the Central Intelligence Agency United States Navy admirals Elliott School of International Affairs alumni Sewanee: The University of the South alumni National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency people Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Intelligence Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit Directors of the Office of Naval Intelligence