ODNI News Release No. 8-06

Nancy J. Powell

National Intelligence Officer for South Asia

Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte has appointed Ambassador Nancy J. Powell to the National Intelligence Council (NIC) as the first National Intelligence Officer for South Asia. Powell joins the NIC from the Department of State where she held a variety of senior positions including Ambassador to Pakistan, Uganda, and Ghana. She served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Bangladesh, Consul General in Calcutta, India and Political Counselor in New Delhi, India. Ambassador Powell also was the Acting Assistant Secretary of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement and Acting Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs. Most recently she was the State Department’s Senior Coordinator for Avian and Pandemic Influenza. Powell graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a history and teaching degree. She is trained in the French, German, Urdu and Nepali languages

The NIC is the Intelligence Community’s center for mid- and long-term strategic analysis. National Intelligence Officers are the Director of National Intelligence’s senior advisors in their specific area of regional or functional expertise. Ambassador Powell’s new position enables the NIC to expand its coverage of this vitally important region that is central to the United States’ war on terrorism and its efforts to address such issues as, extremism, regional conflict and weapons of mass destruction proliferation.