Stephanie Danes Smith, assistant professor in Kent State’s College of Communication and Information. Prior to coming to Kent State, Smith worked for the U.S. federal government, spending nearly 27 years with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). She also had significant executive experience in defense (U.S. Navy) and public diplomacy (the U.S. Department of State).
At the CIA, Smith served in a variety of roles supporting the collection of intelligence. In her pinnacle assignment at the CIA, as director for support, she was the senior-most woman at the CIA and the first woman to hold that job. Smith led the largest of the CIA’s four directorates, managed the CIA’s largest budget and led a worldwide workforce. She achieved the highest-rank possible in the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service, and her career accomplishments were rewarded with the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the CIA Director’s Award and 20 exceptional performance awards.
Smith graduated from Kent State in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, and from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1994 with a master’s degree in public administration.
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