Don Hughes is OU’s new CIA Officer in Residence, coming to Norman after a stint in the Agency’s Office of Congressional Affairs.

The CIA’s Officer-in-Residence program selects about eight to 12 CIA officers to send to universities to broaden understanding of national security intelligence and missions in an academic setting, according to the CIA’s Web site.

Hughes said his main goal is to bring to students a practitioner’s perspective of national security issues, rather than a scholarly view.

“I’d like to give some students a bit of a different picture about how bureaucracies work and the tough decisions that you have to make,” Hughes said. “The work I’ll do is a little more practical, a little bit less theoretical.”

Hughes said he came to OU too late to teach any classes this fall, but he expects to teach a class or two of political science or international and area studies in the spring. In the meantime, he said he would visit classes to teach, sit on discussion panels and host seminars. He also said that he would offer resources to other universities and colleges in Oklahoma.

Hughes began his career with the CIA in 2000, moving to the CIA’s Office of Congressional Affairs in 2006. The OCA informs Congress of CIA activities.

“As a general rule, the CIA is very specialized internally,” Hughes said. “Working in [the OCA] exposes whoever works there to the whole gamut of things the CIA is involved in.”

While working in the OCA, Hughes said he assembled written products or teams of briefers whenever Congress wanted information on CIA activities.

Hughes said that while it may seem like 2006 was a particularly controversial time to work for the CIA - given the fact it was around the time the Iraq war effort was coming under fire - citizens should know the CIA is always active.

“There’s always something going on somewhere that may not be on your TV or your computer screen or on page one of the newspaper,” Hughes said.

Hughes said the Officer-in-Residence selection process is competitive, and he became interested in applying for the job at OU because of the influence OU President David Boren and his son, Dan Boren, had on the U.S. intelligence community. President Boren was once the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and his son is now a member of the House Intelligence Committee.

“[David Boren] did a lot of good things on the Senate Intelligence Committee that strengthened national security,” Hughes said. “There was this kind of OU connection that I got interested in that was a principal reason why I competed for this position.”

Hughes looks forward to having discussions with students interested in national security and hopes he can help encourage students who are interested in working for the CIA to learn more about it. CIA regulations, however, prevent Hughes from recruiting in any form, he said.

Hughes said while one does not get recognized for one’s work in the CIA, given the secret nature of the job, it is essential for national security.

“You don’t read about it, but you know it’s great work, it’s honorable work, it’s challenging work,” Hughes said. “It’s the mission that makes it worthwhile, and if the mission doesn’t excite you, then [the CIA] wouldn’t be the right place for you.”