
John Deutch
'John Mark Deutch' (born
July 27,
1938) is an
American chemist and
civil servant. He was the
United States Deputy Secretary of Defense from 1994 to 1995 and
Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) from
May 10,
1995 until
December 14,
1996. He is presently an
Institute Professor at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and serves on the Board of Directors of
Citigroup,
Cummins,
Raytheon, and
Schlumberger Ltd.
Background
Deutch was born in
Brussels,
Belgium, to a
Russian Jewish father. He graduated from the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC and earned a bachelor's degree in History and Economics from
Amherst College. In 1961, he earned an
B.S. degree in
Chemical Engineering and, in 1966, he earned a PhD in
Chemistry, both from
MIT. He holds honorary degrees from Amherst College, University of Massachusetts at Lowell, and Northeastern University. From 1977 to 1980, he served in several positions for the
U.S. Department of Energy: as Director of Energy Research, Acting Assistant Secretary for Energy Technology, and Undersecretary of the Department. He continued to serve on various government committees throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. He served as the
provost of MIT from 1985 - 1990.
CIA career
In 1995, President
Bill Clinton appointed him Director of Central Intelligence. However, Deutch was initially reluctant to accept the appointment. As head of the
CIA, Deutch continued the policy of his predecessor
R. James Woolsey to declassify records pertaining to U.S.
covert operations during the
Cold War.
["CIA's Historical Review Program", National Archives (NARA) electronic collections] He put restraints on what he considered to be politically incorrect agent recruitment and sought to encourage more
diversity at the Agency in order to include more women and minorities in its ranks.
["PC and the CIA", jewishworldreview.com, Mar. 2, 2005]
Soon after Deutch's departure from the CIA in 1996 it was revealed that
classified materials were being kept on several of Deutch's laptop computers designated as unclassified. In January of 1997, the CIA began a formal security investigation of the matter. Senior management at CIA declined to fully pursue the security breach. Over two years after his departure, the matter was referred to the
Department of Justice, where Attorney General
Janet Reno declined prosecution. She did, however, recommend an investigation to determine whether Deutch should retain his security clearance.
[''Central Intelligence Agency Inspector General Report of Investigation Improper Handling of Classified Information By John M. Deutch'', Feb. 18, 2000] President Clinton pardoned Deutch on his last day in office.
[Ross, Sonya, "Clinton Pardons More Than 100", ''Washington Post'', Jan. 20, 2001]
See also
★
Timeline of Cox Report controversy
Sources
External links
★
Deutch's MIT Biography
★
"Nora Slatkin's Mission Impossible: The CIA," ''BusinessWeek,'' Feb. 26, 1996 (About the CIA executive director hired by Deutch to improve diversity at the CIA.)
★
"Back-stabbing, CIA-style", ''Salon,'' Feb. 3, 2000
★
"Who was John Deutch spying for?, disinformation.com, Oct. 18, 2000