Joanne O'Rourke Isham is an espionage and security expert from the United States. She is a former member of the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

(CIA) and currently involved in

geospatial intelligence In the United States, geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) is intelligence about the human activity on Earth derived from the exploitation and analysis of imagery, signals, or signatures with geospatial information. GEOINT describes, assesses, and visu ...

Biography

Isham graduated from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

in the mid 1970s. She started working in the

(CIA) at the age of 20 doing

background check A background check is a process used by an organisation or person to verify that an individual is who they claim to be, and check their past record to confirm education, employment history, and other activities, and for a criminal record. The fr ...

s. Isham was Director of Congressional Affairs at the CIA during the Aldrich Ames spy case, Associate Deputy Director for the CIA's Directorate for Science and Technology, and Deputy Director of National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency from November 2003 to April 2006. In addition, she was the Deputy Director of National Imagery and Mapping Agency from September 2001 to October 2003. Isham retired from the CIA in 2006 as a member of the Senior Intelligence Service, and a career officer at the Central Intelligence Agency, which she had joined in 1977. In August 2017, she joined defense technology firm Polaris Alpha's advisory board.

Accolades

Isham was awarded CIA's

Distinguished Intelligence Medal The Distinguished Intelligence Medal is awarded by the U.S. CIA, Central Intelligence Agency for performance of outstanding services or for achievement of a distinctly exceptional nature in a duty or responsibility. Recipients This list includes ...

by Director

John Deutch John Mark Deutch (born July 27, 1938) is an American civil servant and physical chemist. He was the United States Deputy Secretary of Defense from 1994 to 1995 and Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) from May 10, 1995, until December 15, 1996 ...

on March 18, 1995; in recognition for her outstanding leadership and management of the Office of Congressional Affairs. She was awarded the

National Intelligence Medal of Achievement The National Intelligence Medal of Achievement is an award that was presented to members of the United States Intelligence Community, both civilian and military, to recognize significant acts of service to the community as a whole. The National Int ...

. She also received the Director’s Award in recognition of extraordinary service.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isham, Joanne People of the Central Intelligence Agency Recipients of the Distinguished Intelligence Medal Recipients of the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement Living people Year of birth missing (living people)