Dana Dyson is a seasoned national security professional, having served as a valued advisor to successive Directors and Deputy Directors of the Central Intelligence Agency, providing strategic and tactical legal support for intelligence activities of critical importance to national security.

Professor Dyson also supervised the attorneys assigned to CIA’s operational, analytical, and scientific and technological components and was responsible for the advice and counsel provided by those attorneys across the Agency’s intelligence enterprise.

With over two decades of experience at the CIA’s Office of General Counsel, she brings deep expertise in national security law, interagency coordination, and congressional relations. Prior to joining the CIA, Professor Dyson served as an active-duty Navy judge advocate for nearly a decade, providing legal counsel to senior Navy officials, including the Vice Chief of Naval Operations and the Commandant of the U.S. Naval Academy.

Before retiring as a Captain, she served an additional 13 years in the Navy reserve and held key reserve leadership roles, including service as Commanding Officer of a Navy reserve legal unit and as Deputy Legal Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. She holds a J.D. and a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Her personal decorations include the Presidential Rank Awards for Distinguished and Meritorious Service, the National Intelligence Superior Service Medal, the CIA Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal, the CIA Director’s Award, the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the CIA’s Clandestine Service Award and the Director of National Intelligence Community Legal Award for Lifetime Achievement.