Deutch, John M.
DEUTCH, JOHN M.
DEUTCH, JOHN M. (1938– ), director, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (1995–96); deputy secretary of defense (1994–95). Born in Brussels, Belgium, Deutch came to the United States in 1940 with his family to escape Nazism and pursued a B.A. in history and economics from Amherst College as well as a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned his Ph.D. in physical chemistry (1965). He first served as a systems analyst at the Office of the Secretary of Defense and later as an assistant professor at Princeton (1967–70) before returning to mit, where he was a professor of chemistry, dean of science, and provost (1982–90). He subsequently became an institute professor at mit.
Deutch spent his career shuttling between academia and government service on the Cambridge-Washington axis. From 1977 to 1980 he served as director of Energy Research, acting assistant secretary for energy technology, and under-secretary of energy. In 1993, President Clinton nominated him as undersecretary of defense for acquisitions and technology. In March 1994 he became deputy secretary and then left the Defense Department to become director of the Central Intelligence Agency from May 1995 until the conclusion of Clinton's first term.
A significant security breach marred Deutch's sterling reputation. He stored top-secret information on unsecured home computers and kept private journals of his public work. Deutsch had his security clearance revoked. Criminal investigations were concluded when President Clinton pardoned him before leaving office in January 2001.
bibliography:
L.S. Maisel and I. Forman, Jews in American Politics (2001).
[Michael Berenbaum (2nd ed.)]