Alexandra Sukalo Named Director of the Clements-Strauss Intelligence Studies Project

The Clements Center for National Security and the Strauss Center for International Security and Law at The University of Texas at Austin are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Alexandra Sukalo to lead the University’s Intelligence Studies Project (ISP). ISP was established in 2013 as a joint venture of the Clements and Strauss Centers out of a conviction that the activities of the U.S. Intelligence Community were increasingly critical to safeguarding our national security and yet were understudied at American universities. ISP has emerged as a premier center for the study of intelligence through a variety of programs, including course offerings and research as well as periodic conferences and other public events focused on intelligence topics.

A joint statement by Clements Center Executive Director Vice Admiral (Ret.) Joe Maguire and Strauss Center Director Adam Klein expresses, “We are most fortunate and grateful that Dr. Alexandra Sukalo has agreed to lead ISP into the future. Alexandra stood out from a field of many qualified candidates. The selection committee was unanimous that there was no finer intelligence professional, scholar,  or mentor to lead the ISP team. Please join us in welcoming Dr. Sukalo to her leadership position.”

Dr. Sukalo is an Assistant Professor of National Security Affairs at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. She is a historian of Russia and Eastern Europe. Her research and teaching focus on Russian and Soviet intelligence and security services, the Russian and Soviet military-industrial complex, and the Russian and Soviet nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Dr. Sukalo is completing a book manuscript on the Soviet Union’s domestic intelligence and security services under Stalin. Her dissertation, upon which her book is based, won UT Austin’s Bobby R. Inman Award for excellence in student scholarship on intelligence. Her second book project, entitled The Soviet Nuclear Empire, examines the development and workings of the Soviet nuclear industry. Her work has been featured in The Washington Post, War on the Rocks, and the Journal of Intelligence and National Security.

Prior to joining the LBJ School, Dr. Sukalo was an Assistant Professor of Modern Russian History and Security Policy at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. She earned her PhD and MA in history from Stanford University. She also received an MA in European and Russian Studies from Yale University, and she holds a BA in political science from Barnard College. She completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Clements Center. Prior to her academic appointments, Dr. Sukalo also worked as a Eurasian analyst for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency.

Dr. Sukalo will replace Steve Slick, who served as ISP’s inaugural director beginning in 2014. Slick will continue to serve as a Senior Fellow with ISP and as a Professor of Practice in National Security Affairs at the LBJ School.

“We have deep gratitude to Steve for his leadership as Director of the Intelligence Studies Project for the past decade,” Maguire and Klein said. “He is a masterful combination of scholar and practitioner. His vision and execution over the years have resulted in ISP’s recognition as THE premier academic center for the study of intelligence. More importantly, Steve has trained, educated, mentored and inspired numerous UT graduates to serve our nation’s intelligence community (IC). His dedicated leadership will leave a lasting positive impact on both the IC and this University. We are honored that Steve will remain with ISP as a senior fellow.

Steve Slick noted his “sincere appreciation for the consistent support to ISP by the University, LBJ School, Clements and Strauss centers, and greater Austin national security community,” and reiterated his “resolve to contribute to ISP’s continued success under Alexandra’s leadership for the benefit of UT students pursuing impactful careers in public service and national security.”

Slick added, “ISP, along with the centers and LBJ School itself, owe an incalculable debt to Admiral (Ret.) Bobby Inman for his continuing leadership in national security education at UT.” 

Additional information on ISP is available at www.intelligencestudies.utexas.edu.