Joan Dempsey
MAGNOLIA – Joan Dempsey, a former U.S. intelligence official and Southern Arkansas University alumnus, will be the keynote speaker for the University’s spring commencement exercises on Friday, May 7. Approximately 325 undergraduate and graduate students will receive degrees during two ceremonies. The School of Graduate Studies will conduct commencement at 4 p.m. in the Grand Hall of the Donald W. Reynolds Campus and Community Center. The undergraduate ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on the University Mall.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in political science from SAU in 1981, Dempsey embarked on a 25 year career in the federal government and held two political appointments. She was first appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence for Community Management. She was later appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as the Executive Director of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. She spent 17 years as a senior civilian in the Department of Defense as Deputy Director of Intelligence at the Defense Intelligence Agency, as Director of the General Defense Intelligence Program, and as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security. She also served for 25 years as a naval reserve intelligence officer and was on active duty as a U.S. Navy cryptologic technician.
Dempsey was the 2004 recipient of the Security Affairs Support Association William O. Baker Award. She also was granted an honorary doctorate from the Joint Military Intelligence College. She is a recipient of the National Intelligence Medial of Achievement, the Intelligence Community Seal Medallion, the Distinguished Civilian Service Award from the Secretary of Defense, and the American University Roger W. Jones Award for Executive Leadership. She is a special advisor to the U.S. Strategic Command and chairs the Intelligence, Reconnaissance and Surveillance Panel of the Command’s Strategic Advisory Committee. She was recognized as a 2010 Distinguished Alumni of Southern Arkansas University.
A senior vice president at Booz Allen, Dempsey currently leads the firm’s intelligence business in central Maryland. She previously led the firm’s intelligence business in the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
