Ruth A. David

Dr. Ruth A. David, Ph.D of Virginia is President and CEO of ANSER Institute for Homeland Security (Analytic Services Inc.), an independent, not-for-profit, public service research institution headquartered in Arlington, VA.

According to the Defense Intelligence Journal, Dr. David and her Deputy, Joanne Isham, "were the first senior Central Intelligence Agency officials to understand that the information revolution required the CIA to forge new partnerships with the private sector and design a proposal for radical change. The timing of the proposal was fortuitous. The Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), George J. Tenet, had just launched his Strategic Direction initiative that included technology investments and improving its information gathering and analysis capabilities."

In fact, Dr. David expressed her ideas on this as early as April 1996 in an interview with SIGNAL Magazine: "David emphasizes that the intelligence community must focus on leveraging commercial technology development and integrating it into the intelligence system, rather than on internal technology development." 

On June 22, 1998, DCI Tenet announced that Dr. David would be leaving the CIA to become the CEO of a public service research institute. 

"By the summer of 1998, the Agency had assembled a few senior Agency staff employees with an entrepreneurial bent and empowered them to take Dr. David's original concept and flesh it out." This concept company was a small corporation in Washington, DC, that at first was named In-Q-It but which was quickly renamed In-Q-Tel. The CIA-initiated corporation was announced in the national media on September 29, 1999. 

Almost immediately, on October 12, 1998, Dr. David joined the RAND Corporation spinoff ANSER Institute to become President and Chief Executive Officer.  She initiated ANSER's Homeland Defense Strategic Thrust in 1999 "to address the growing national concern of multi-dimensional, asymmetric threats from rogue nations, sub-state terrorist groups, and domestic terrorists." 

Remarks on Homeland Security
On April 11, 2002, Dr. David delivered an address to the Committee on National Security System's annual conference in which she made the following comment:


 * "Homeland security cannot be described in terms of projects to be completed or systems to be acquired--although both will be important. Ensuring the security of our homeland means protecting our way of life against those who wish to eliminate it. It means marshaling the strengths of our nation--our technological superiority and our capacity for innovation--to create an asymmetric advantage."


 * "Homeland Security: Performance Challenges" by Dr. Sharon Caudle quote from Dr. David:


 * "What is the goal of the homeland security mission? Are we defending America -- the nation -- or protecting every American from every conceivable terrorist threat? If we set the bar too high we face unaffordable resource requirements -- a black hole of spending -- and untenable loss of personal freedoms. If we [set] it too low, American citizens may lose confidence in their government's ability to protect the nation from terrorism. If we fail to answer the question, we have no context for decision-making -- no way to prioritize investments -- and no way to measure progress."

Background
Previously, Dr. David served in several leadership positions at the Sandia National Laboratories, where she began her professional career in 1975. "From 1991 to 1994, Dr. David was Director of the Development Testing Center that developed and operated a broad spectrum of full-scale engineering test facilities." 

"From 1989 to 1991, she was Manager of the Nondestructive Test, Electromagnetic Test, and Optics Department. From 1986 to 1989, she was Supervisor of the Data Systems Development Organization." 

From September 1995 to September 1998, Dr. David was Deputy Director for Science and Technology at the Central Intelligence Agency. According to CIA Director George J. Tenet, Dr. David "served on loan [from Sandia] under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act as CIA's DDS&T since September 1995." 

"As Technical Advisor to the Director of Central Intelligence, she was responsible for research, development, and deployment of technologies in support of all phases of the intelligence process. She represented the CIA on numerous national committees and advisory bodies, including the National Science and Technology Council and the Committee on National Security. Upon her departure from this position, she was awarded the CIA's Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the CIA Director's Award, the Director of NSA Distinguished Service Medal, the National Reconnaissance Officer's Award for Distinguished Service, and the Defense Intelligence Director's Award.

Organizational Affiliations
"Dr. David is a member of the President's Homeland Security Advisory Council (appointed June 11, 2002), the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), and a Corporate member of the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc. She serves on the National Security Agency Advisory Board, the National Research Council Naval Studies Board, and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Technical Advisory Group.

"She previously served on the Defense Science Board, Department of Energy Nonproliferation and National Security Advisory Committee, and the Securities and Exchange Commission Technical Advisory Group.

"Dr. David is a former adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico and has technical experience in digital and microprocessor-based system design, digital signal analysis, adaptive signal analysis, and system integration. She is an Associate Fellow of AIAA, a Principal on the Council for Excellence in Government, a Class Director for the AFCEA International Board of Directors, and a member of Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society and Eta Kappa Nu Electrical Engineering Society." 

"Dr. David frequently provides speeches, interviews, lectures, briefings, and articles on the many facets of homeland security. She is the coauthor of three books on Signal Processing Algorithms and has authored or coauthored numerous papers." 

Profiles
Ruth A. David was born 13 May 1953, in Arkansas City, Kansas. She received a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Wichita State University (1975), an M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University (1976), and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University (1981).