Retired Lt. Gen. James R. Clapper Jr., GVPT ’63, Inducted into the UMD Alumni Hall of Fame

Each year, the University of Maryland's Alumni Association celebrates and honors the achievements of seven outstanding Terps at "A Celebration of Terps: Featuring The Maryland Awards." The Maryland Awards—which include the Alumni Association Hall of Fame Inductee award, the President's Award, the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, the Spirit of Maryland Award, the Tyser Gottwals Award, the Elaine Johnson Coates Award, and the Do Good Award—recognize fearless alumni who have risen to the highest levels of public service, launched successful companies and made groundbreaking discoveries.

Retired Lt. Gen. James R. Clapper Jr., GVPT ’63, was named the 2023 Alumni Association Hall of Fame Inductee. This award, presented to the university's most notable alumni who instill Maryland pride and reflect the core values of the university, honors an alumnus/a who has received state, national or global fame for their significant, positive impact on society.

The former Director of National Intelligence, Clapper's distinguished career spans his 1961 enlistment in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve (after which he soon transferred to UMD's Air Force ROTC program) and his service as director of national intelligence.

He served two combat tours in Southeast Asia, flying 73 support missions in EC-47s over Laos and Cambodia. His positions included assistant chief of staff for intelligence at Headquarters, U.S. Air Force, during Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm and director of intelligence for three combatant commands.

Following his 1995 retirement from the military, Clapper worked at three companies, focusing on the intelligence community. He also served as a consultant and adviser to Congress and to the departments of Defense and Energy.

Clapper returned to the government two days after 9/11 as the first civilian director of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, transforming it into the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

Prior to becoming director of national intelligence, Clapper served in two administrations as undersecretary of defense for intelligence. He was also director of defense intelligence for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

He has been honored with 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, three Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Awards, the presidentially conferred National Security Medal, and many other U.S. civilian and military, and foreign government awards and decorations.

Published on Wed, Dec 13, 2023 - 1:17PM