Mercyhurst Participation in the First-Ever Intelligence Studies Summit at National Intelligence University

Mercyhurst University’s Associate Professor of Intelligence Studies and chair of the Intelligence Studies department, Dr. Fred Hoffman, participated in the two-day inaugural Intelligence Studies Summit (ISS) hosted by the National Intelligence University in Washington, DC, on 13 and 14 March. National Intelligence University, or NIU, offers undergraduate degrees, master’s degrees, and certificates in intelligence to U.S. government civilians and military service members.

NIU President John Ballard said this year’s ISS would discuss “the role of technology, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity, as well as international perspectives on intelligence, the intersection of culture and intelligence, and comparative approaches to teaching intelligence. We will also focus on measuring the effectiveness of intelligence and, of course, the critical connection between intelligence and future warfighting.” 

NIU, which describes itself as “The intelligence community’s bridge to the future,” has the mission of advancing knowledge and educating leaders in strategic intelligence to strengthen national security. Previously located at Defense Intelligence Agency headquarters on Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, in Washington, DC, NIU is now located across the river at Intelligence Community Campus-Bethesda. NIU also has four satellite locations around the world. 

Founded in 2004, the Intelligence Studies department at Mercyhurst University was the nation’s first-ever intelligence studies program offered outside the government. With over 1,800 alumni and an impressive 93% placement rate, Mercyhurst’s Intelligence Studies program continues to successfully transition its graduates into a wide variety of government and private sector intelligence jobs. “For more than three decades, our intelligence studies program has successfully placed graduates in careers in one of the 18 organizational entities in the intelligence community, in intelligence support to law enforcement, and in competitive intelligence,” Hoffman said. 

Academic presenters at ISS not only included NIU professors, but also intelligence faculty from a number of U.S. and foreign universities that also offer intelligence studies programs. “This Intelligence Studies Summit is a unique and valuable opportunity for us to come together, share ideas, and collaborate in shaping the future of the profession,” said Ballard. 

In the same year that Mercyhurst’s Intelligence Studies program was established, Hoffman earned a Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence (MSSI) degree at the Joint Military Intelligence College, which in 2006 was renamed the National Defense Intelligence College before finally becoming National Intelligence University in 2011. In similar fashion, some of the professors from other programs who presented at ISS graduated from Mercyhurst’s intelligence studies program some years ago. One of these was Professor Andrew Macpherson of the University of New Hampshire, who earned a Bachelor of Arts in Research/Intelligence Analysis from Mercyhurst. At ISS, Macpherson spoke positively of his time at Mercyhurst, and fondly remembered the years he lived in Erie, Pennsylvania. 

This year’s ISS was held at NIU’s brand-new, unclassified facility in Washington, DC called the Intelligence Research, Education, and Solutions Lab (iRES). NIU and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) established IRES in early 2024 to serve as the university’s central hub for technical training within an open-source environment in support of NIU’s curriculum and research. NIU’s campus itself is a classified facility, and access to the campus is limited to individuals possessing an active security clearance. Having an unclassified space like iRES enables NIU to more effectively engage with public and private sector partners having a shared interest in addressing some of the country’s more difficult intelligence challenges. As Australian Defense Liaison Officer Jim Austin informed ISS participants, “If you’re going to do cyber intelligence, you must include the public sector.” Austin and South Korean colleague Yongkuk Cho attended ISS as representatives of NATO’s Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Estonia. 

Meeting with ISS participants enabled Hoffman to potentially expand the portfolio of international intelligence organizations supported by open-source intelligence (OSINT) research and analysis projects conducted by Intelligence Studies undergraduates and Applied Intelligence graduate students. “Thanks to foreign partner relationships brokered years ago by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), our students have already provided valuable OSINT support to military intelligence officials from one NATO member country and to counterparts in another country that is currently seeking NATO membership,” Hoffman said. “We’re now in talks to expand our portfolio to include a few more NATO countries.” 

In addition to being the nation’s first intelligence studies program, Mercyhurst University also has the distinction of housing one of only two intelligence centers in the United States, the Center for Intelligence Research, Analysis, and Training (CIRAT), which provides students with applied experience and resources to hone their skills in the various intelligence, data science, and cybersecurity fields. Brian Fuller serves as the Executive Director of CIRAT. Participating in a CIRAT project ensures that Intelligence Studies and other students not only learn about intelligence in a classroom setting but to gain practical experience working on real-world intelligence problems in support of government and private sector clients and partners. “Reading and attending classes on intelligence conveys explicit knowledge, but participating in a CIRAT project provides our students with priceless tacit knowledge,” Hoffman explained. “Explicit knowledge is easy to ingest and understand, but tacit knowledge is something you can only really learn by doing – like learning how to ride a bicycle, become an electrician, or gain proficiency in soccer or in martial arts.”