Benjamin Powell

Mr. Benjamin A. Powell [http://www.dni.gov/aboutODNI/bios/powell_bio.htm] is the General Counsel of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Mr. Powell was nominated to this position by the President and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate in 2006.

Mr. Powell was raised in Miami, Florida. He received two undergraduate degrees as part of the Management and Technology Program at the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Economics from the Wharton School of Business and a degree in Applied Science from the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

After graduation, he worked as a computer scientist at the Federal Bureau of Investigation and served as an officer in the United States Air Force. In the Air Force, he managed programs for the Intelligence Community primarily involving computer and network technology. His work included designing and delivering the first Department of Defense intelligence center to exploit and disseminate detection and surveillance data in support of counter-narcotics missions, managing the program that designed, acquired, and installed the intelligence data systems required in the National Maritime Intelligence Center, supporting the development and enhancement of the United States Space Command Joint Space Intelligence Center, and providing support to United States Navy Fleet Intelligence Centers, United States Central Command and Air Combat Command.

After service in the Air Force, Mr. Powell attended Columbia Law School, where he was a Senior Editor of the Columbia Law Review, a Kent Scholar, and a Tony Patino Fellow. After graduation, Mr. Powell served as a Law Clerk for Judge John M. Walker, Jr. on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and for Justice Byron White and Justice John Paul Stevens on the United States Supreme Court.

Mr. Powell practiced law at Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd & Evans in Washington, D.C., where he was part of the discovery and trial team that won the largest antitrust verdict in U.S. history. He next joined Vitria Technology, Inc, in Sunnyvale, California as Corporate Counsel. At Vitria, he handled securities, licensing, litigation, and intellectual property matters. He also oversaw European and Latin American legal issues for the company. He most recently served as an Associate Counsel to the President and Special Assistant to the President, where his work included advising on various initiatives related to reform of the Intelligence Community and the creation of the Director of National Intelligence, liaison to The Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction (“Silberman-Robb Commission”), various litigation and investigatory matters, and policy and legal work with the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, the Department of Justice, the Department of Commerce, and NASA.

Mr. Powell is a member of the bar in California, the District of Columbia, and New York. He has published research in the field of artificial intelligence and neural networks.

ee also

*Office of the Director of National Intelligence

References