Sir John Anthony Adye KCMG (born 24 October 1939) is a former

Director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

of the British signals intelligence agency,

GCHQ Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Uni ...

, a post he held from 1989 to 1996.

Career

Adye was born to Arthur Francis Capel Adye and Hilda Marjorie (née Elkes). Educated at

Leighton Park School Leighton Park School is a co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils in Reading in South East England. The school's ethos is closely tied to the Quaker values, having been founded as a Quaker School in 1890. The school's ...

and Lincoln College, Oxford, Adye joined GCHQ in 1962 becoming Director in 1989. After retiring from GCHQ in 1996, he served as the chair of the

Country Houses Association The Country Houses Association (CHA) was a British charity (a friendly society with charitable status) that converted country houses into retirement flats and maintained them from 1955 until its liquidation in 2004. History The Country Houses ...

until 2002.National Biometric Security Project
/ref> In 1993 Adye was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George. In 2005 he was appointed to the board of the US National Biometric Security Project. Adye was a witness in February 2008 at the inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales: in an unprecedented move (normal policy is neither to confirm nor deny operational activities), he strenuously denied that GCHQ had any involvement in either the Camillagate or Squidgygate tapes.Diana's calls 'not bugged by GCHQ'
Metro, 28 February 2008

References

Directors of the Government Communications Headquarters Living people 1939 births People educated at Leighton Park School Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George {{Crypto-bio-stub