William J. burns
Director of the
Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.)
Marshall Scholar, Class of 1978 (Oxford University)
“Diplomacy is one of our nation’s biggest assets and best-kept secrets”
-william J. burns
making the case for diplomacy
William J. Burns is Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.) under President Biden. Before his confirmation, Burns was president of the oldest international affairs think tank in the United States, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He holds the highest rank in Foreign Service, career ambassador, and is only the second serving career diplomat in history to become deputy secretary of state. Burns has been the recipient of three Presidential Distinguished Service Awards and a number of Department of State awards.
Ambassador Burns is the author of The Back Channel: A Memoir of American Diplomacy and its Case for Renewal (2019), and Economic Aid and American Policy Toward Egypt, 1955-1981 (State University of New York Press, 1985). In 1994, he was named to Time Magazine’s list of the “50 Most Promising American Leaders Under Age 40” and its list of “100 Young Global Leaders.”