Mike McConnell is vice chairman of Booz Allen Hamilton, where he serves on the firm’s leadership team and heads its cyber-security business. After retiring from the Navy in 1996 as a vice admiral, Mike joined Booz Allen and led the development of the firm’s information assurance and intelligence business, focused on policy, operations, transformation, homeland security, intelligence analytics, and counter-terrorism.
At the request of President George W. Bush, Mike left Booz Allen in 2007 to become the second director of National Intelligence (DNI). As DNI, he managed the national Intelligence Community and interacted extensively with the White House, Cabinet, Congress, international leaders, and U.S. business community. He also served as a member of the White House National Security Council. In 2009, Mike returned to Booz Allen as an executive vice president. In 2011, he became vice chairman.
Mike has worked for over 43 years in international and foreign intelligence issues. His 29-year distinguished career as a U.S. Navy intelligence officer included service to Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney and Chairman to the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell during Desert Shield/Storm and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. From 1992 to 1996, Mike served as the director of the National Security Agency, leading the agency as it adapted to the multi-polar threats brought about by the end of the Cold War, and providing global intelligence and information security services to a broad array of government, military, and civil intelligence professionals.
In addition to having been awarded many military awards for meritorious service, Mike has twice received the nation’s highest honor for service in the Intelligence Community. He has also served as the chairman and CEO of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, receiving its William Oliver Baker Award in 2011. Mike holds an M.P.A. degree from George Washington University, and is a graduate of the National Defense University and the National Defense Intelligence College. In addition to being a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Mike has been awarded three honorary doctorate degrees.