U.S. intelligence official to serve McCarthy Center residency Feb. 23-26

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February 16, 2015

Paul Heer, a member of the United States intelligence community, will be the eighth annual scholar-in-residence Feb. 23-26 at the Eugene J.  McCarthy Center for Public Policy and Civic Engagement.

While in residence, Heer will deliver a keynote address at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 25, at room 204A, Gorecki Center, CSB.  The event is free and open to the public.

Heer will be interviewed by Christi Siver, assistant professor of political science at CSB and SJU on "National Security and the Rise of China: A Discussion with Paul Heer." The event will provide an opportunity to learn about Heer's work as an East Asia specialist at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Heer joined the National Intelligence Council (a division of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence) in 2007, and is a national intelligence officer at the NIC. Before that, he served in the CIA, where he was a member of the Senior Analytic Service in the Directorate of Intelligence. During his CIA career, he also worked as a political and foreign policy analyst on China and Southeast Asia.

He was a visiting intelligence fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) from 1999-2000, and was elected a member of the CFR in 2001.

Heer holds a bachelor's degree from Loras College; a master's in history from the University of Iowa; and a Ph.D. in diplomatic history from The George Washington University.

The McCarthy Residency showcases the work and skills of someone who has a distinguished career in public service, policy or politics. The primary purpose of the residency is to give extended access to someone with real knowledge and wisdom about policy, civic engagement and public life.

Past residents have included Al Eisele '58, editor of The Hill; former Sen. Dave Durenberger '55; Sean Kershaw, CEO of the Citizens League; Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania; John Chromy '64, CHF International; Gary Eichten '69, MPR News Editor-at-Large; and the Theater of Public Policy.