The Honorable James R. Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, Is Navigator Award Winner

ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The Potomac Institute for Policy Studies (www.potomacinstitute.org) is pleased to announce that the Director of National Intelligence, The Honorable James R. Clapper, has been named a recipient of a 2012 Navigator Award. Mr. Clapper and fellow awardees will be honored at a banquet at the Willard InterContinental Hotel on Thursday, June 21. This will be the 11th Navigator Awards event.

Mr. Clapper was sworn in as the fourth Director of National Intelligence (DNI) on August 9, 2010. As DNI, Mr. Clapper leads the United States Intelligence Community and serves as the principal intelligence advisor to the President.

Mr. Clapper retired in 1995 after a distinguished career in the US Armed Forces. His career began as a rifleman in the US Marine Corps Reserve and culminated in his service as a lieutenant general in the US Air Force and as Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Directly following his retirement, Mr. Clapper worked in industry for six years, supporting the Intelligence Community. He also served as a consultant and advisor to Congress and to the Departments of Defense and Energy. Mr. Clapper returned to the government in September, 2001, as the first civilian director of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA). He served as Director for five years, transforming it into the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) as it is today. Prior to becoming the Director of National Intelligence, Mr. Clapper also served for over three years, in two Administrations, as the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. His awards include three National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medals, two Defense Distinguished Service Medals, the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, the Coast Guard's Distinguished Public Service Award, the Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award.

Regarding the selection of Mr. Clapper for a Navigator Award, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies Chairman and CEO Michael Swetnam said, "DNI Clapper has dedicated his life to the service of his country. His dedication, experience, and leadership are needed at this critical time in our country's history, more than ever."

The Potomac Institute for Policy Studies' Navigator Awards are presented to members of Congress and to representatives of the executive branch, industry and academia in recognition of their distinguished contributions in the arena of science and technology. The Navigator Award is named as a tribute to those leaders in science and technology who act as pathfinders in the pursuit of knowledge. Recipients in 2010 were Arden L. Bement, Jr., PhD, former Director of the National Science Foundation; Jeffrey Wadsworth, PhD, President and CEO of the Battelle Memorial Foundation; Elon Musk, CEO/CTO of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and CEO and Product Architect of Tesla Motors; and Gerald Edelman, MD, PhD, Director of The Neurosciences Institute, President of Neurosciences Research Foundation, and a Nobel laureate (1972 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine). Other past recipients include: Dr. Rita Colwell, Dr. Charles Herzfeld, VADM Paul Gaffney, Dr. Tony Tether, Dr. John Marburger, Dr. John Young, Senator Pat Roberts, Senator Joseph Lieberman, Senator Jeff Bingaman, Rep. Pete Hoekstra, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, General Al Gray, In-Q-Tel CEO Mr. Gilman Louie, former Scientific American Editor-in-Chief Mr. John Rennie, and other distinguished thought leaders.

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