Jim Simon is a former (retired) career Central Intelligence Agency officer, he was appointed by President Clinton and confirmed by the Senate in 1999 as the first Assistant Director of Central Intelligence for Administration, a position he held from January 2000 through January 2003. As deputy to the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence for Community Management, he was responsible for technology acquisition, overseeing budgets, and setting policy for the 14 agencies that comprise the intelligence community.

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Mr. Simon was designated as the senior intelligence official for homeland security, establishing and chairing the Homeland Security Intelligence Council. From January 2003 until January 2005, Mr. Simon served as President and Chief Executive Officer of a consulting and services firm, IntelligenceEnterprises, LLC. Jim was the founding director of the Microsoft Institute in 2004, which was created by Bill Gates and Craig Mundie as a small group to use the benefits of Microsoft’s advanced research and development against intractable problems for the global public sector.

Jim has written extensively on cyber conflict, military history, intelligence, and security. He has presented papers before various professional associations including the Business Executives for National Security, the Operations Research Society of America, the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, and the Kokoda Foundation. He has made numerous public appearances and has lectured at both civilian universities and military colleges in the US and elsewhere.

Mr. Simon has a Bachelor of Arts degree from The University of Alabama and a Master of Arts from the University of Southern California. He has studied at the University of Maryland, the Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität in Frankfurt, the Universität Bayern e. V. in Munich, the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and Harvard University. He interned at Radio Free Europe and held Herman and Earhart fellowships.

A native of Montgomery, Alabama, Jim’s interests include his church, family, Egyptology, history, poetry, genealogy, linguistics, golf, and The Crimson Tide. He is married to Cheryl and they have three children and four grandchildren. They retired to Alabama and live in Guntersville while building a home on the Tenn River in Scottsboro.

Jim is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Alabama teaching a course on the consequences of the “Cyber World” for governments, societies, and individuals.

Jim is a cyber-expert and his talk will center on “Cyber World, what it means for governments, societies, and individuals.”  He knows all the players and issues we hear and read about literally each day in the news regarding national and global security.