Barbara A. McNamara (born circa 1942) is an American linguist. She was the

NSA 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, collecti ...

's Deputy Director from October 1997 until June 2000. She was succeeded by William B. Black, Jr.

Biography

McNamara joined the NSA in 1963 as a linguist working with

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

. She rose through a number of analytic, operational, and managerial positions before leaving the Operational Directorate in 1983. McNamara became the first woman to be named Deputy Director of Operations in 1994. In 1997 she became the second woman to be named the agency's deputy director. In June 2000, she received the US Intelligence Community's highest award, the

National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal The National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal (NIDSM) is a decoration awarded for service to the United States Intelligence Community. The decoration is awarded to any member or contributor to the National Intelligence Community, either c ...

. At the time she was one of the highest ranked women in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

intelligence community. She served as the NSA's Senior U.S. Liaison Officer in London, England shortly before her retirement in 2003. In 2020, she was inducted into the

NSA Hall of Honor The Hall of Honor is a memorial at the National Security Agency headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland. It honors individuals who rendered distinguished service to American cryptology. The Hall of Honor The Hall of Honor is located on the grounds ...

References

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Linguists from the United States Women linguists Deputy Directors of the National Security Agency People from Clinton, Massachusetts Recipients of the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal {{US-gov-bio-stub