Mark Kelton is the Director of MEK & Associates and a retired senior Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) executive with 34 years of experience in intelligence operations. Mr. Kelton’s career included more than sixteen years of overseas service, to include four assignments in key CIA field leadership positions. He concluded his career as the Chief of CIA’s Counterintelligence Center. Directing CIA’s counterintelligence and counterespionage programs, Mr. Kelton led the team that protected the nation’s most closely guarded secrets. Mr. Kelton has comprehensive expertise in intelligence operations, international security issues, detection of insider threats, assessment of counterintelligence risk, and crisis management.
Mr. Kelton is a recipient of the CIA Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the CIA Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal, the Director of National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, the CIA Director’s Award, the 2015 Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Senior Intelligence Officer, the CIA Intelligence Medal of Merit, the CIA Directorate of Operations Donovan Award and numerous other honors.
An Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Security Studies Program of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University and at the Daniel Morgan Graduate School for National Security, Mr. Kelton is an Advisory Council Founding Member for the H.R. McMaster Center for Security Studies at Valley Forge Military College; is on the Advisory Boards of AppGuard and SHINE Systems; is Board Chair of the Spookstock Foundation (which benefits the CIA Memorial Foundation and the Special Operations Warrior Foundation); is on the Insider Threat Subcommittee of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance; and is an Advisor to the Chertoff Group. Mark is a regular contributor to The Cipher Brief, writing on intelligence and national security issues.
