The Hon R. James Woolsey

Chairman, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Former Director, Central Intelligence Agency (1993-95)


Ambassador R. James Woolsey, a former Director of Central Intelligence, chairs the board of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and is a Venture Partner with Lux Capital Management.

Jim also currently chairs the Strategic Advisory Group of the Washington, D.C. private equity fund, Paladin Capital Group, and the Advisory Board of the Opportunities Development Group, and he is Of Counsel to the Washington, D.C. office of the Boston-based law firm, Goodwin Procter. In the above capacities JIm specializes in a range of alternative energy and security issues.

Jim previously served in the U.S. Government on five different occasions, where he held Presidential appointments in two Republican and two Democratic administrations. From July 2002 to March 2008 he was a Vice President and officer of Booz Allen Hamilton, and then a Venture Partner with VantagePoint Venture Partners until January 2011. Jim was also previously a partner at the law firm of Shea & Gardner in Washington, DC, now Goodwin Procter, where he practiced for 22 years in the fields of civil litigation, arbitration, and mediation.

During his 12 years of government service, in addition to heading the CIA and the Intelligence Community, Jim was: Ambassador to the Negotiation on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), Vienna, 1989–1991; Under Secretary of the Navy, 1977–1979; and General Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, 1970–1973. He was also appointed by the President to serve on a part-time basis in Geneva, Switzerland, 1983–1986, as Delegate at Large to the U.S.–Soviet Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) and Nuclear and Space Arms Talks (NST). As an officer in the U.S. Army, Jim was an adviser on the U.S. Delegation to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I), Helsinki and Vienna, 1969–1970.

Ambassador Woolsey currently serves on a range of government, corporate, and non-profit advisory boards and chairs several, including the Advisory Boards of the Clean Fuels Foundation and the New Uses Council, and Jim is a Trustee of the Center for Strategic & Budgetary Assessments. Previously he was Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Regents of The Smithsonian Institution, and a trustee of Stanford University. Jim has also been a member of The National Commission on Terrorism, 1999–2000; The Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the U.S. (Rumsfeld Commission), 1998; The President’s Commission on Federal Ethics Law Reform, 1989; The President’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management (Packard Commission), 1985–1986; and The President’s Commission on Strategic Forces (Scowcroft Commission), 1983.

Ambassador Woolsey has served in the past as a member of boards of directors of a number of publicly and privately held companies, generally in fields related to technology and security, including Martin Marietta; British Aerospace, Inc.; Fairchild Industries; and Yurie Systems, Inc. In 2009, Jim was the Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and in 2010-11 and he was a Senior Fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs.

Ambassador Woolsey was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and attended Tulsa public schools, graduating from Tulsa Central High School. Jim received his B.A. degree from Stanford University (1963, With Great Distinction, Phi Beta Kappa), an M.A. from Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar 1963–1965), and an LL.B from Yale Law School (1968, Managing Editor of the Yale Law Journal).

Ambassador Woolsey is a frequent contributor of articles to major publications, and from time to time gives public speeches and media interviews on the subjects of energy, foreign affairs, defense, and intelligence. Jim is married to Suzanne Haley Woolsey and they have three sons, Robert, Daniel, and Benjamin.

Links for R. James Woolsey
Bulletin of May 20, 2013


This page last updated May 21, 2013 jdb