The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
December 23, 2009

President Obama Announces Members of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced that he will appoint the following individuals to the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board:

  • Roel Campos, Member, President’s Intelligence Advisory Board
  • Lee Hamilton, Member, President’s Intelligence Advisory Board
  • Rita Hauser, Member, President’s Intelligence Advisory Board
  • Paul Kaminski, Member, President’s Intelligence Advisory Board
  • Ellen Laipson, Member, President’s Intelligence Advisory Board
  • Les Lyles, Member, President’s Intelligence Advisory Board
  • Jami Miscik, Member, President’s Intelligence Advisory Board

President Obama said, “Throughout its history, this distinguished board has been used by each President to examine and address the most pressing intelligence challenges that face our nation.  A significant component of our national security is dependent on the health and capability of the intelligence community to identify and effectively deal with current threats and those on the horizon.  I am deeply grateful that these individuals have agreed to serve our country by offering their independent, unbiased guidance to me on a range of important intelligence issues.  I look forward to receiving their expert counsel in the coming months and years.”

President Obama announced today that he will appoint the following individuals:

Roel C. Campos, Member, President’s Intelligence Advisory Board
Roel C. Campos is currently the Partner In Charge of the Washington, D.C., office of the national law firm of Cooley, Godward and Kronish.  Campos was twice confirmed by the U.S. Senate and served as Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from 2002-2007.  At the SEC, Campos represented the Agency in international matters and led initiatives to raise global regulatory and enforcement standards.  Prior to that, Campos was one of two principal founders and owner-executives of El Dorado Communications, a radio broadcasting company with headquarters in Houston, Texas.  Earlier in his career, Campos served as a federal prosecutor for five years at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles, prosecuting major cases against narcotics cartels and corporate fraud.  Campos also served as an officer in the United States Air Force, specializing in major weapons systems procurement.  Campos earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School, his Masters in Business Administration from UCLA, and his Bachelors in Science from the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Lee H. Hamilton, Member, President’s Intelligence Advisory Board
Lee H. Hamilton is president and director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and director of The Center on Congress at Indiana University.  Hamilton represented Indiana’s 9th congressional district for 34 years beginning January 1965.  He served as chairman and ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, chaired the Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran, the Joint Economic Committee, and the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress. As a member of the House Standards of Official Conduct Committee, Hamilton was a primary draftsman of several House ethics reforms.  Hamilton is Co-Chair of the National Security Preparedness Group.  He was appointed to the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States. He was appointed to the National War Powers Commission, a private, bipartisan panel led by former Secretaries of State James A. Baker III and Warren Christopher, to examine how the Constitution allocates the powers of beginning, conducting, and ending war. Hamilton served as co-chair of the Iraq Study Group, a forward looking, bi-partisan assessment of the situation in Iraq, created at the urging of Congress.  Hamilton served as Vice-Chair of the 9/11 Commission and co-chaired the 9/11 Public Discourse Project, established to monitor implementation of the Commission’s recommendations.  He currently serves on the FBI Director’s Advisory Board, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Task Force on Preventing the Entry of Weapons of Mass Effect on American Soil, the CIA External Advisory Board, co-chairs the National Security Preparedness Group with Thomas Kean, and co-chairs the National Advisory Committee to the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools with Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.  Hamilton is a graduate of DePauw University and Indiana University School of Law.  Before his election to Congress, Hamilton practiced law in Chicago, Illinois, and Columbus, Indiana.

Rita E. Hauser, Member, President’s Intelligence Advisory Board
Rita E. Hauser, President of The Hauser Foundation, is an international lawyer and was a Senior Partner for more than 20 years at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan in New York.  In October 2001, Dr. Hauser was appointed by President George W. Bush to the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and served through 2004.  Dr. Hauser chairs the International Peace Institute (affiliated with the United Nations) and is Chair of the Advisory Board of the International Crisis Group.  She was elected in 2007 to the Board of the Global Humanitarian Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, chaired by Kofi Annan.  She chairs The American Ditchley Foundation, supporting Great Britain’s leading conference center.  Dr. Hauser has served as a director of many organizations, including The RAND Corporation and The International Institute for Strategic Studies (London).  She is currently a Director of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and was a Director of the New York Philharmonic Society for more than 20 years.  She and her husband established The Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University, and she is Co-Chair of the Dean’s Advisory Board at Harvard Law School.  The Hausers also were the principal benefactors of the Hauser Global Law School Program at New York University Law School.  She holds advanced degrees from the University of Strasbourg in France, Harvard and New York University Law Schools.  She has received numerous honorary degrees, awards and distinctions, among them the Award of the Women’s Leadership Summit at Harvard Law School in October 2008.

Paul G. Kaminski, Member, President’s Intelligence Advisory Board
Dr. Paul G. Kaminski served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology from 1994 to 1997.  Currently, Dr. Kaminski is Chairman and CEO of Technovation, Inc., a consulting company dedicated to fostering innovation and the development and application of advanced technology.  During his 20-year career as an officer in the Air Force, Dr. Kaminski served as Director for Low Observables Technology, and was responsible for the development and fielding of the nations stealth programs.  Dr. Kaminski has had a continuing career involving advanced technology in both the private and public sectors.  He served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Technology Strategies and Alliances, a technology-oriented investment banking and consulting firm.  He is Chairman of the Defense Science Board, and serves as a consultant to the Office of Secretary of Defense.  He has served as a consultant and advisor to a wide variety of government agencies and as a director and trustee of several defense and technology-oriented companies.  Dr. Kaminski is a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Technical Advisory Board, the FBI Director's Advisory Board, the Air Force Studies Board of the National Research Council, and The Atlantic Council.  Dr. Kaminski is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics.  He serves as a trustee and advisor to the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, and MIT Lincoln Laboratory.  Dr. Kaminski serves as Chairman of the Board of The RAND Corporation, HRL (the former Hughes Research Labs), and Exostar.  He is a Director of General Dynamics, Bay Microsystem, CoVant, and the USAF Academy Endowment. He received the National Medal of Technology in 2006, and holds a B.S. from the Air Force Academy, M.S. degrees in both Aeronautics and Astronautics and in Electrical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University.

Ellen Laipson, Member, President’s Intelligence Advisory Board
Ellen Laipson is President and CEO of the Stimson Center; a nonprofit, nonpartisan institution devoted to enhancing international peace and security.  At the Center, Laipson directs the Southwest Asia project, which focuses on a range of security issues in the Gulf region and is a frequent speaker on Middle East issues, U.S. foreign policy and global trends.  She joined the Stimson Center in 2002, after a 25 year career in the U.S. government.  Her last position in government was as the Vice Chair of the National Intelligence Council (NIC) from 1997 to 2002.  Prior to that, she served as Special Assistant to the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations (1995-1997), as Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs for the National Security Council (1993-1995), as National Intelligence Officer for Near and South Asia (1990-1993), as a member of the State Department’s policy planning staff (1986-1987), and was a specialist in Middle East Affairs for the Congressional Research Service.  Laipson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on the Boards of the Asia Foundation and the Education and Employment Foundation.  She holds degrees from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and Cornell University.

Lester L. Lyles, Member, President’s Intelligence Advisory Board
Lester L. Lyles is the Vice Chairman of the Defense Science Board.  He is also a member of the NASA Advisory Council.  He chaired  the  Committee on the Rationale and Goals of the U.S. Civil Space Program sponsored by the National Academies of Science and Engineering.  Prior to this, he served as an officer in the Air Force for 35 years until his retirement as a general in 2003. From 1993 to 1994, Lyles was assigned as the Vice Commander of Ogden Air Logistics Center at Hill Air Force Base in Utah and then commanded the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base until 1996.  Afterwards, he became the Director of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization until his re-assignment as Vice Chief of Staff at the Air Force Headquarters in 1999.  In 2000, Lyles became the Commander of the Air Force Material Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio where he conducted research, development, tests and evaluations, acquisition management services and logistics support for the Air Force.  Lyles has received many awards and decorations including the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, and the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster.  He was also named Astronautics Engineer of the Year by the National Space Club and received the Roy Wilkins Renown Service Award for outstanding contributions to military equal opportunity policies and programs from the NAACP.  Lyles earned his Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from Howard University, a Master’s in Mechanical/Nuclear Engineering from New Mexico State University through the Air Force Institute of Technology.  He is also a graduate of the Defense Systems Management College, the Armed Forces Staff College, the National War College, and the National and International Security Management Course at Harvard University.  He has honorary Doctorates from New Mexico State University and Urbana University.

Jami Miscik, Member, President’s Intelligence Advisory Board
Jami Miscik is the President and Vice Chairman of Kissinger Associates, an international consulting firm based in New York.  Previously, she served as the Global Head of Sovereign Risk at Lehman Brothers.  Prior to that, Ms. Miscik had a distinguished twenty-year career in intelligence, ultimately serving as the Central Intelligence Agency’s first female Deputy Director for Intelligence from 2002 to 2005.  Ms. Miscik also served as Director for Intelligence Programs at the National Security Council from 1995 to 1996.  She currently serves on the boards of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Ditchley Foundation, and In-Q-Tel, and previously served as the Co-Head of the Obama Transition Team for the Intelligence Community.  Ms. Miscik is the recipient of the DCI Director’s Medal, the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the Defense Intelligence Agency Medal, and has twice received the Intelligence Commendation Medal.  She holds degrees from Pepperdine University and the University of Denver. 

Source: The White House