About the Director

Thomas W. Shreeve

Thomas W. Shreeve is the Director of the US Intelligence Community Case Method Program at the Center for the Study of Intelligence. As principal director of Thomas W. Shreeve & Associates, Tom also provides consulting to government and industry in the application of the case method to education and training in the Intelligence Community.

Tom graduated with honors from Middlebury College in 1969 with a major in political science, and at the same time was commissioned a second lieutenant in the US Marine Corps Reserve. He served on active duty in intelligence and cryptologic assignments in Vietnam, Japan, and Okinawa before returning to the United States in 1971. Completing a Master of Arts degree at the New School for Social Research in 1973, Tom accepted a position as a consultant to the New York City Police Department Intelligence Division and worked there until 1975, when he joined the Drug Enforcement Administration as a senior intelligence analyst.

In 1981, Tom entered the MBA program at the Harvard Business School, graduating in 1983. After a year on the Harvard Business School staff, Tom entered on duty as a political analyst with the Central Intelligence Agency in 1984. He joined the CIA's Office of Training and Education in 1987.

Intrigued by the prospect of using the case method of learning in the profession of intelligence, in 1990 Tom established the CIA Case Method Program. The effectiveness and power of the case method soon spread through many parts of the CIA's training curriculum, and from there to other parts of the Intelligence Community. By the mid-1990s, the CIA Case Method Program was drawing national recognition and was widely considered the most well developed in the US Government.

Tom embarked on a second career in private practice as a teacher, management consultant, and course developer after early retirement from the CIA in December 1998.

Tom remained active in the Marine Corps Reserve, attaining the rank of colonel in 1992, following a recall to active duty during the Persian Gulf War.

Publications:

Intelligence and the National Security Strategist (National Defense University, 2004): "A National Intelligence Estimate on Yugoslavia."
International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, Spring 1997: "Building a Learning Organization: Teaching With Cases at the CIA." (Co-author: James, J. Dowd, Jr.)
Political Risks in International Business (Praeger, 1985): "The Intelligence Cycle as a Model for Political Risk Assessment."
Harvard Business Review, Jul-Aug 1984: "Be Prepared for Political Changes Abroad."