Thomas Fingar

Charles Thomas Fingar is Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Analysis and Chairman, National Intelligence Council (2005 - Present).

Background

Early life

Education

Fingar received his B.A. in Government and History from Cornell University (1968), and his M.A.(1969) and Ph.D.(1977) in Political Science from Stanford University. His principal languages are Chinese and German.

Honors and Awards

The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) awarded Fingar the 2005 Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Senior Professional. The commendation reads "Dr. Thomas Fingar is recognized for his outstanding service and leadership in the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), most recently serving as INR's Assistant Secretary. Dr. Fingar guided INR through more than a decade of continuous change, reinvention, and rejuvenation in response to shifting foreign policy challenges. Major INR initiatives under Tom Fingar's leadership included the creation of the Humanitarian Information Unit to cope with such humanitarian emergencies as HIV/AIDS, reconstruction in Afghanistan and Iraq, and tsunami relief; the transformation of INR's TIPOFF terrorism database into a major resource for national watch listing organizations after 9/11; and shifting INR's focus from "current intelligence" toward an optimal balance between briefing policy makers on fast moving issues and providing new insight through more in depth analytical products. Tom Fingar's accessible management style and willingness to adopt inventive technologies and a "team" approach greatly enhanced the output of the Bureau and elevated the morale of its staff. Imbued with what former Secretary of State Colin Powell once termed Tom Fingar's "moral courage and sense of purpose," INR has become an "outstanding intelligence outfit," with a reputation that continues to represent integrity, experience, and respected analytic judgments." [ [http://www.opm.gov/ses/2005dspe_bios.asp OPM SES 2005 Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Senior Professional] ]

Family

Career

Fingar has had a long and distinguished career as an intelligence officer, academic, and diplomat.

His academic career was primarily at Stanford University, where several research appointments included Senior Research Associate in the Center for International Security and Arms Control (CISAC), and Director of the Stanford U.S.-China Relations Program.

He served as Assistant Secretary and head of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) for the United States Department of State from 23 July 2004 until May 2005. He is a career member of the Senior Executive Service. His principal foreign languages are Chinese and German. Dr. Fingar has published dozens of books and articles, mostly on aspects of Chinese politics and policymaking.

As Assistant Secretary in charge of INR, as well as Acting Assistant Secretary (2000-2001 and 2003-2004), he served as principal adviser to the Secretary on intelligence-related issues, supervised analytical work on every country and region as well as transnational challenges such as terrorism and proliferation, ensured that activities undertaken by the Intelligence Community supported the President’s foreign policy, and contributed to coordinated intelligence judgments as a member of the National Foreign Intelligence Board (NFIB).

Previous assignments in the Department include serving as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary (2001-2003), Deputy Assistant Secretary for Analysis (1994-2000), Director of the Office of Analysis for East Asia and the Pacific (1989-1994), and Chief of the China Division (1986-1989). Dr. Fingar was a member of the Senior Seminar during 1992-1993.

In 1975, Fingar began work at Stanford University as a research associate in the Stanford Arms Control Program, the predecessor of the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC). He was director of the university’s U.S.-China Relations Program when he left for the State Department in 1986. Other previous positions include assignment to the United States National Academy of Sciences as co-director of the US-China Education Clearinghouse, adviser to the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, and consultant to numerous U.S. Government agencies and private sector organizations. He served as the senior German linguist in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, USAREUR & 7th Army in Heidelberg, Germany.

Views

Fingar's political views are primarily discernible from his published works on China, where he promoted a policy of strategic cooperation.

peeches

* [http://www.dni.gov/speeches/20060821_2_speech.pdf Speech] at The DNI's Information Sharing Conference and Technology Exposition
* [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/terrorism/t_0031.htm Before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence] February 7, 2001

Memberships and Affiliations

References

External links

* [http://www.dni.gov/fingar_bio.htm Official ODNI Biography of Dr. Thomas Fingar]
* [http://www.state.gov/outofdate/bios/f/34631.htm State Department Biography]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNYmxpi1Wew&feature=user Intelligence Analysis: Continuity and Change (Council on Foreign Relations)]