General Hayden is a retired United States Air Force four-star general and former Director of the National Security Agency and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He is currently a Principal at the Chertoff Group, a security consultancy co-founded by former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. He also serves as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at George Mason University School of Public Policy.
General Hayden entered active duty in 1969 after earning a bachelor’s degree in history in 1967 and a master’s degree in modern American history in 1969, both from Duquesne University. He is a distinguished graduate of the university’s ROTC program. General Hayden has served as Commander of the Air Intelligence Agency and as Director of the Joint Command and Control Warfare Center. He has also served in senior staff positions at the Pentagon, Headquarters U.S. European Command, National Security Council and the U.S. Embassy in the People’s Republic of Bulgaria. The general also served as Deputy Chief of Staff, United Nations Command in Korea. Before becoming Director of the CIA, General Hayden served as the country’s first Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence – and was the highest-ranking intelligence office in the armed forces.
He is a member of the Aspen Homeland Security Group. His recent memoir, Playing to the Edge: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror, has been a New York Times best-seller and was recently selected as one of the 100 most notable books of 2016.