J. Ransom Clark

4019 Ashton Club Drive
Lake Wales, FL 33859

863-875-1308
rclark@muskingum.edu

CURRENT ACTIVITIES

From July 2005 to the present: Research, writing, and consulting.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

1. Academic Experience

Retired (as of 9 July 2005): Emeritus, Muskingum University, New Concord, Ohio

Most Recent Position: From July 1, 2001 to July 8, 2005, Vice President for Administration, Muskingum University, New Concord, Ohio

Responsible for facilities project planning and implementation, including management interface with consultants, architects, and construction managers on such projects as the $11,3000,000 Philip and Betsey Caldwell Hall, a state-of-the-art communication arts complex;

Exercised general oversight of intercollegiate athletics, involving 19 NCAA Division III athletic teams;

Held overall management responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the physical plant, including prioritization and consultation with regard to significant deferred maintenance projects involving existing facilities;

Performed the broad oversight function for campus security, working with an armed, commissioned police force of five officers and a professional Director of Campus Police;

Oversaw both general and case-specific activities of the human resources and personnel functions at the University.

Immediate Previous Position: From December 3, 2001, to July 15, 2002, served simultaneously as Interim Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Muskingum University, New Concord, Ohio

Responsible for management and oversight of activities of units involved in fundraising, public relations, and alumni relations

Previous Position: From July 1, 1998, to June 30, 2001, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty, Muskingum University, New Concord, Ohio

Responsible, as Chief Academic Officer, for all undergraduate and graduate programs of the University, the library, academic and administrative computing, academic support services, international programs, a prison program, and the Center for the Advancement of Learning

Prior Experience in Higher Education: From 1990 to 1998, Assistant and Associate Professor and Chair, Political Science Department, Muskingum University, with full range of teaching, advising, and committee responsibilities

Taught courses in Public Policy, Public Administration, State and Local Politics, Urban Politics, Political Communications, Theory and Methods in Political Science, and National Security Policy Issues

Panel discussant and moderator in presentations involving Russia, East Europe, and the Middle East

Newspaper, television, and radio commentator and speaker at civic and specialized organizations on national and international security concerns and general political issues

Associate Editor and Referee, Political Science, The Ohio Journal of Economics and Politics

2. Government Experience

A career of decision-making, problem-solving positions at increasingly demanding levels of responsibility in the Central Intelligence Agency. Retired member of the CIA's Senior Executive Service. Assignments in Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Washington, D.C. Expertise in collecting, assessing, and presenting substantive information to policymakers. First-hand experience in directing large and small organizations and managing multimillion dollar budgets. Extensive briefing and writing experience.

Deputy Group Director with full range of management responsibilities for activities of U.S. intelligence officers in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and the United States. Intelligence material disseminated to U.S. diplomatic and military components worldwide electronically and in over 50 informational and analytical products.

Inspector in CIA's Office of the Inspector General responsible for providing the Director of Central Intelligence with assessments of the effectiveness of CIA programs and compliance of components and employees with relevant laws, Executive Orders, and regulations.

Section head at U.S. embassies in the Middle East and Europe, managing intelligence collection activities and utilizing substantive expertise and diplomatic skills for coordination with U.S. and foreign intelligence, military, and other governmental officials.

Headed Office-level executive/planning staff responsible for allocation of personnel and financial resources, including preparation and monitoring of programs and budgets, and for substantive requirements issues.

Directed activities of U.S. Government's unclassified news service which screens, selects, edits, and disseminates foreign open-source intelligence of immediate interest to key Government consumers.

As Senior Duty Officer in CIA's Operations Center, responsible for alerting senior Agency and Intelligence Community officials -- including the Director of Central Intelligence -- to receipt of significant information and explicating its significance in oral and written form.

HONORS

Cora I. Orr Award for Faculty Service, Muskingum University, August 22, 1997

William Oxley Thompson Award for Excellence in Teaching, Muskingum University, September 3, 1992

Intelligence Medal of Merit, Central Intelligence Agency, June 1, 1990

EDUCATION

J.D., George Mason University School of Law, Arlington, Virginia, 1990

Honors: American Jurisprudence Award in Constitutional Law; American Jurisprudence Award in Professional Responsibility

U.S. Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, 1981

Honors: "With Distinction"

M.A., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1964

Russian History; NDEA Title IV Fellowship

B.S., Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 1961

Majors in Political Science, History, and Economics

Private and governmental management and substantive courses

Including the Levinson Leadership Seminar, Management Grid, and CQ's Congressional Monitors

 

PUBLICATIONS

Web Site

The Literature of Intelligence: A Bibliography of Materials, with Essays, Reviews, and Comments, April 1998-Present.

http://intellit.muskingum.edu and http://intellit.org

Books

American Covert Operations: A Guide to the Issues (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger/ABC-CLIO, July 2015).

Intelligence and National Security: A Reference Handbook (Westport, CT: Praeger Security International, 2007).

Articles

Encyclopedia of U.S. Political History, Volume Six: Postwar Consensus to Social Unrest, 1946 to 1975, ed. Thomas S. Langston (Washington DC: CQ Press, 2010)

"Central Intelligence Agency," 78-82;

"Federal Bureau of Investigation," 166-170;

"J. Edgar Hoover," 199-201.

Encyclopedia of U.S. Political History, Volume Seven: The Clash of Conservatism and Liberalism, 1976 to Present, ed. Richard M. Valelly (Washington DC: CQ Press, 2010)

"Federal Bureau of Investigation," 153-156.

"CIA and Espionage," in Americans at War: Society, Culture, and the Homefront. Volume 4: 1946-Present, ed. John P. Resch, 26-28 (Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2005).

"Collection and Use of Open Source Intelligence," in NATO Open Source Intelligence Reader, 98-103 (Brussels, Belgium: NATO and SACEUR, February 2002).

"The NIP Forum: Restructuring Intelligence," Naval Intelligence Professionals Quarterly 12, no. 2 (Apr. 1996): 14.

"Report: Post-Cold War International Security Issues," The North American Nation Project: Year One, 1993-94--Final Reports (Bethany, WV: East Central Colleges, [1995]).

"KGB Remnants Still Important in 'New' Russia," Cambridge, Ohio, Daily Jeffersonian, July 20, 1994; Zanesville, Ohio, Times Recorder, July 29, 1994.

"New Boxes for Old Tools? Considerations on Reorganizing U.S. Intelligence," Ohio Journal of Economics and Politics 8, no. 1 (Fall 1993): 1-10.

"Peace Will Not Come to the Middle East Overnight," Zanesville, Ohio, Times Recorder, September 19, 1993.

"Intelligence Chief Crucial Choice," Zanesville, Ohio, Times Recorder, December 2, 1992.

Paper, "Change and the Intelligence Community," delivered at conference, Ohio Association of Economists and Political Scientists, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, October 23-24, 1992.

"Where Do Unemployed Spies Go?" Muskingum College Bulletin, Spring 1992.

"The Soviet Upheaval," Cambridge, Ohio, Daily Jeffersonian, September 7, 1991.

"Fate of KGB May Indicate Russian Regime's Direction," Zanesville, Ohio, Times Recorder, September 1, 1991.

Paper, "EMCON Tactics in Wartime (SECRET)," Chief of Naval Operations' Tactical Symposium, Newport, Rhode Island, November 1981.

Book Reviews

"Taking It to the Communists," International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 26, no. 3 (2013): 624-630.

"Once Again, Alger Hiss," International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 26, no. 1 (2013): 201-207.

"Collaborating for Freedom," International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 25, no. 3 (Fall 2012): 604-609.

"A Scholar's Dream Assignment," International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 25, no. 1 (Spring 2012): 198-205.

"Michael Holzman, James Jesus Angleton, the CIA, and the Craft of Counterintelligence (Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 2008)," Intelligence and National Security 27, no. 1 (Feb. 2012), pp. 158-162.

"Building the Cold War Consensus," International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 24, no. 4 (Winter 2011-2012): 793-798.

"Not So Invisible to History," International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 24, no. 2 (Summer 2011): 383-388.

"Review Roundtable: The Trouble with Atomic Spies," Intelligence and National Security 25, no. 5 (Oct. 2010): 705-724. One of three reviews: Gary Kern, 705-715; Jerrold L. Scheckter, 715-721; and J. Ransom Clark, 721-724.

"Spy Wars: Moles, Mysteries, and Deadly Games," Journal of Cold War Studies 11, no. 2 (Spring 2009): 137-139.

"Benjamin Weiser, A Secret Life: The Polish Officer, His Covert Mission, and the Price He Paid to Serve His Country (New York: Public Affairs, 2004)," Defense Intelligence Journal 16, no. 2 (2007): 155-156.

"Encyclopedic Hits and Misses," International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 11, no. 2 (Summer 1998): 239-242.

PRESENTATIONS

Click here for a listing of talks, interviews, commentary, and media quotes

 

ACADEMIC COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS

Professional Development Committee, 1994-1997; Chair, 1996-1997

Chair, Search Committee for Vice President of Student Life, 1994

Wilds Strategy Committee, 1994

Graduate Committee, 1991-1997

Steering Committee, Institutional Self-Study, 1991-1992

Convener, Task Group on Student Resources, Institutional Self-Study, 1991-1992

Curriculum Committee, 1991-1994

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

Former and Current

Editorial Advisory Board, International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence

Association of Former Intelligence Officers

Central Intelligence Retirees Association

National Military Intelligence Association

U.S. Naval Institute

American Political Science Association

International Association for Intelligence Education

Ohio Association of Economists and Political Scientists

Midwest Political Science Association

International Studies Association

National Intelligence Education Foundation

Naval Intelligence Professionals

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Member, Steering Committee, Ohio Bicentennial and New Concord 175th Anniversary Celebration, January-June 2003

Board Member, John and Annie Glenn Historic Site and Exploration Center, 2000-2005

Board Member, Southeastern Ohio Symphony Orchestra, 1998-2005

Board Member, New Concord Heritage Committee, 1998-2005

Chair, New Concord Planning Commission, 1993-2005

Member and holder of various offices in New Concord Lions Club, 1990-2005

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