Amy Zegart (born 1967) is an American political scientist currently serving as the Morris Arnold and Nona Jean Cox Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute of International Studies (FSI), and professor of political science (by courtesy) at Stanford University. She is also a contributing writer to The Atlantic. From 2013 to 2018, she served as co-director of FSI's Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) and founder and co-director of the Stanford Cyber Policy Program.
Amy Zegart | |
---|---|
Born | 1967 (age 56–57) |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Professor |
Academic background | |
Education | Harvard University (BA) Stanford University (PhD) |
Academic advisors | Condoleezza Rice |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Political scientist |
Institutions | Hoover Institution Stanford University |
Zegart was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1967. She received an A.B. in East Asian Studies magna cum laude from Harvard University then earned a Ph.D. in Political Science at Stanford University, where she studied under Condoleezza Rice.[1] While in graduate school, she spent time on President Bill Clinton's National Security Council staff.[1]
Shortly after graduating from Harvard, Zegart moved to Hong Kong, where she continued studying East Asia for a year on a Fulbright Scholarship. Following this, she began work as an associate with McKinsey & Company, where she advised Fortune 100 companies on strategy and organizational effectiveness.[1] Zegart then attended graduate school. After completing her Ph.D., she served as a professor of public policy at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and a fellow at the Burkle Center for International Relations.[1] In 2011, Zegart moved to Stanford University.
Zegart is a leading expert on the United States Intelligence Community and national security policy. She has written five books[2] on the topic: Flawed By Design, which chronicled the evolution of the relationship between the United States Department of Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Council; Spying Blind, which examined U.S. intelligence agencies in the period preceding the September 11 attacks in 2001; Eyes on Spies, which examined the weaknesses of U.S. intelligence oversight; and Spies, Lies, and Algorithms, which examined espionage in the digital age.
Zegart currently serves as a member of the board of directors of the Council on Foreign relations and Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, a military contractor and weapons manufacturer that received a $29m government contract in 2016 to produce directed-energy weapon systems.[3]
She currently resides in Palo Alto, California, and is married to a retired screenwriter.[4]