Hayden Center Closes the Semester with Former Top Intelligence Official Susan Gordon

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A bald man looks to his right and a woman with blonde hair in a black outfit smiles.
David Priess, left, and Susan Gordon field questions from the audience. Photos by Buzz McClain/Schar School of Policy and Government
A woman with blonde hair in a black outfit looks at the camera.
Susan Gordon

International intelligence is in the spotlight—exactly where it does not like to be—as the incoming presidential administration names candidates for appointments to lead the nation’s intelligence apparatus.

Few people know the ins and outs of the intelligence field better than Susan Gordon, the former principal deputy director of national intelligence during the first Donald J. Trump administration. Gordon took the Mason Square stage Tuesday evening for a lively and wide-ranging 90-minute conversation about all-things-intelligence with moderator and former CIA officer David Priess.

“Susan Gordon: A Life in Intelligence” was the final event of the semester hosted by the Schar School of Policy and Government’s Michael V. Hayden Center for Intelligence, Policy, and International Security.

Some 80 audience members—made up of, among others, faculty, students, staff, and current and former intelligence officials—attended in person at George Mason University’s Van Metre Square auditorium in Arlington, Virginia. Another 120 viewed the talk via livestream.

A recording of the event can be seen on the Hayden Center YouTube channel.

Fun fact pointed out by Priess during his introduction, Gordon is the only three-year captain in history of Duke University’s women’s basketball team.