Adm Dennis C.
Blair, USN (Ret)

Dennis Blair, a sixth-generation naval officer, is the former Commander in Chief of the US Pacific Command and former Director of National Intelligence. He is currently the Knott Distinguished Visiting Professor of the Practice at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and Adjunct Professor of National Security Policy at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. Blair chairs the board of SAFE, a non-profit organization advocating energy and economic security.  In addition, he serves on the boards of No Labels and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. From January 2009 to May 2010, as first Director of National Intelligence in the Obama administration, Blair led the sixteen national intelligence agencies. He was president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Defense Analyses from 2003-06, and Chairman, CEO and Senior Fellow at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA from 2014-2017. Prior to his retirement in 2002 after a career of 34 years, Blair was the Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Command.  In addition to Navy assignments, he served on the Joint Staff and on the National Security Staff. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Blair earned a master’s degree in history and languages from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.