J. Paul Pope

James "Paul" Pope serves as the interim dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin, the No. 1 public policy program in Texas and part of a top-tier research university. Established in 1970 under President Lyndon B. Johnson with a mission to broaden access to the halls of power, the LBJ School provides several nationally recognized degree programs that equip students to address today's most pressing challenges.

Prior to becoming interim dean, Professor Pope, who holds the Loyd Hackler Endowed Chair for Ethical Leadership and the J.J. “Jake” Pickle Chair in Public Affairs, served the LBJ School for 12 years as a distinguished professor of practice, a dedicated mentor to students, and a highly effective academic leader as the Graduate Studies Committee Chair of the Master of National Security. An experienced leader, Pope is also a senior fellow in the Intelligence Studies Project, which is sponsored by the Strauss and Clements Centers. 

Pope retired from the CIA after multiple foreign tours, service as chief of station and assignments as a chief, deputy chief and chief of operations in the Directorate of Operations' three largest components. As chief of the Tradecraft and Training Division, Pope was responsible for DO training, capturing "lessons learned," and adapting training and tradecraft to emerging technical challenges and mission imperatives. He was assistant deputy director of National Intelligence for Strategic Partnership and later acting assistant director of National Intelligence for Partner Engagement for almost a year.

Pope served as head of delegation to NATO's Civilian Intelligence Committee and as the DNI/DCIA representative to commander, U.S. Pacific Command and its component commands. Prior to becoming an operations officer, he served on the National Intelligence Council for the Near East and South Asia and led an analytic branch in the Directorate of Intelligence. Pope was an Army officer, with service on the Army General Staff after twice commanding at the company level, including command of the only active firebase in the Army on the Korean DMZ. He received his M.A. With Distinction from the Naval Postgraduate School and B.S. from the United States Military Academy at West Point. Pope is a distinguished graduate of Command and General Staff College, a graduate of the National War College's CAPSTONE course and a graduate the Pinnacle Course for senior executives at the Kellogg School of Northwestern University.