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Advisory Board

Michael S. Swetnam

Michael S. Swetnam is the CEO of the Potomac Institute for Policy. He has served as the Chairman of the Board since its inception in 1994, when he also assisted in founding of the company.

Mike is currently a member of the Technical Advisory Group to the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He provides expert advice to the U.S. Senate on the R&D investment strategy of the U.S. Intelligence Community. He also served on the Defense Science Board (DSB) Task Force on Counterterrorism and the Task Force on Intelligence Support to the War on Terrorism.

From 1990 to 1992, Mike served as a Special Consultant to President Bush’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) where he provided expert advice on Intelligence Community issues including budget, community architecture, and major programs. He also assisted in authoring the Board’s assessment of Intelligence Community support to Desert Storm/Shield.

Mike has authored and edited several books and articles including: Al-Qa’ida: Ten Years After 9/11 and Beyond, coauthored with Yonah Alexander; Cyber Terrorism and Information Warfare, a four volume set he co-edited; Usama bin Laden’s al-Qaida: Profile of a Terrorist Network, coauthored with Yonah Alexander; ETA: Profile of a Terrorist Group, coauthored with Yonah Alexander and Herbert M. Levine; and Best Available Science: Fundamental Metrics for Evaluation of Scientific Claims, coauthored with Dennis K. McBride, A. Alan Moghissi, Betty R. Love, and Sorin R. Straja.

Before forming the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, Mike worked in private industry as the Vice President of Engineering at the Pacific-Sierra Research Corporation, Director of Information Processing Systems at GTE, and Manager of Strategic Planning for GTE Government Systems.

Between 1986 and 1990, he worked for the Director of Central Intelligence as the Program Monitor on the Intelligence Community Staff. He was responsible for the development and presentation to Congress of the budget of the National Security Agency, and helped develop, monitor, and present to Congress the DOE Intelligence Budget.

Mike was also assigned as the IC Staff representative to intergovernmental groups that developed the INF and START treaties. He assisted in presenting these treaties to Congress for ratification. Collateral duties included serving as the host to the DCI’s Nuclear Intelligence Panel and Co-Chairman of the S&T Requirements Analysis Working Group.

Mike served in the U.S. Navy for 24 years as an active duty and reserve officer, Special Duty Cryptology. He has served in several public and community positions including Northern United Kingdom Scout Master (1984–85); Chairman, Term limits Referendum Committee (1992–93); President (1993) of the Montgomery County Corporate Volunteer Council, Montgomery County Corporate Partnership for Managerial Excellence (1993); and the Maryland Business Roundtable (1993). He is also on the Board of Directors of Space and Defense Systems, Dragon Hawk Entertainment Inc., the Governing Board of The Potomac Institute of New Zealand, and the Strategic Advisory Board of the Physical Optics Corporation.

Mike lives in Arlington, Virginia.

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