Who Runs this Department in the US Government That Fears Virtual Worlds?

U.S. spy chief names his top scientist
Published: January 14, 2008
Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell announced today that Dr. Lisa Porter was selected to be the first Director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA). “This is an important milestone for the Intelligence Community,” said McConnell. “We are incredibly fortunate to have someone of Dr. Porter’s stature take on this vital role.” The selection of the Director of IARPA is a key piece of the Intelligence Community’s 500-Day Plan for Integration and Collaboration. IARPA sponsors research aimed at game-changing breakthroughs and compliments the mission-specific science-and-technology research already being conducted by intelligence agencies. Porter, of Scituate, Mass., comes to IARPA following service as the NASA Associate Administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.
In this position, she managed the agency's aeronautics research portfolio and guided its strategic direction. As well, Porter co-chaired the National Science & Technology Council's Aeronautics Science & Technology Subcommittee. Prior to her service with NASA, Porter served as a senior scientist in the Advanced Technology Office of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). While there, she created and managed programs in diverse technical areas ranging from fundamental scientific research to multidisciplinary systems-level development and integration efforts. Porter has a bachelor's degree in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a doctorate in applied physics from Stanford University. She has authored more than 25 publications in a broad range of technical disciplines including nuclear engineering, solar physics, plasma physics, computational materials modeling, explosives detection, and vibration control of flexible structures. Dr. Tim Murphy has served as Acting Director of IARPA since June 2007, when he replaced Steve Nixon. Murphy will serve as Deputy Director of IARPA when Porter begins as Director. Nixon currently serves as Director of Science and Technology for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
________________
WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- A former military scientist and senior NASA official is being tapped to be the first chief scientific researcher for all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies. Lisa Porter was named as the first director of the new Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, in a statement from the Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell. "This is an important milestone for the Intelligence Community," he said in the statement last week. "We are incredibly fortunate to have someone of Dr. Porter's stature take on this vital role." Porter, of Scituate, Mass., is the associate administrator of NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, and co-chairman of the National Science & Technology Council's subcommittee on aeronautics. She came to NASA from the Pentagon, where she was a senior scientist at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the entity on which the idea for IARPA was originally based. According to the statement, IARPA "sponsors research aimed at game-changing breakthroughs and compliments the mission- specific science-and-technology research already being conducted by intelligence agencies." IARPA, which got off to a rocky start last year, as a result of concerns that its exact mission and role was unclear, has been under two acting directors so far. Then they said - "HEY LET'S PLAY SECOND LIFE AND WORLD OF WARCRAFT ALL DAY LONG AND TRY AND FIND TERRORISTS! THAT COULD BE FUN! AND PROTECT THE COUNTRY AT THE SAME TIME! YEAH!" The current interim head, Tim Murphy, will continue at the agency as Porter's deputy. Murphy assumed the top spot in June 2007, when he replaced Steve Nixon after the latter was promoted to become director of science and technology for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Porter has a bachelor's degree in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a doctorate in applied physics from Stanford University. She has authored more than 25 publications in a broad range of technical disciplines including nuclear engineering, solar physics, plasma physics, computational materials modeling, explosives detection, and vibration control of flexible structures. She will leave NASA Feb. 1, the agency said. I feel safer already ... Thanks!