Plummer, McLaughlin Tapped for New Posts Bologna Professor Michael Plummer Heads OECD Development Division In January, Michael G. Plummer B’82, the ENI Professor of International Economics at the Bologna Center, became head of the Development Division in the Trade and Agriculture Directorate of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris. He is leading a team of researchers focusing on trade and development issues, mostly for non-member countries. Although officially on leave of absence from SAIS, Plummer will continue to teach his course on Asian economic development on a biweekly basis. “While at the OECD, Professor Plummer will be playing a central role in the international efforts to bring the Doha Development Round of multilateral trade talks to a successful conclusion,” said Kenneth H. Keller, director of the Bologna Center. “This is precisely the kind of practical blend of politics and economics that the center and a SAIS education are intended to foster.” SAIS Scholar John McLaughlin Leads Inquiry on Intelligence Failures Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair on January 8 appointed John E. McLaughlin B’66, ’66, distinguished practitioner in residence at the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at SAIS, to head the Obama administration’s investigation of challenges facing the U.S. intelligence community. These include the December 25 bombing attempt of a Detroit-bound airliner and the November shootings at Fort Hood in Texas. McLaughlin spent most of his career at the CIA, serving as the agency’s acting director and deputy director. “John McLaughlin is especially well qualified to lead an independent assessment in this area and provide candid, constructive guidance to improve our future performance,” Blair said. “I am pleased that his more than three decades of experience and wide range of leadership responsibilities in intelligence will once again be put to use in service to our country.” [return to contents] | 
