2019 “Bobby R. Inman Award” Winners Announced

The Intelligence Studies Project of the University of Texas at Austin is pleased to announce the winner and two semifinalists of its fifth-annual competition recognizing outstanding student research and writing on topics related to intelligence and national security.

The recipient of the 2019 “Bobby R. Inman Award” for student scholarship on intelligence is Jeffrey Rogg, a Ph.D. candidate in history at the Ohio State University concentrating on conflict, peace and diplomacy.  His paper, Deciphering the “American Black Chamber,” chronicles the rise and fall of the Cipher Bureau and introduces a theory of “civil-intelligence”relations in the U.S.

The graduate student semifinalist is Peter Roady, a Ph.D. candidate in U.S. history at Columbia University. His paper, Constructing a New Legal Framework for Intelligence: The Ford Administration, the National Security Agency, and the Year of Intelligence, reexamines based on archival sources the internal deliberations of the Ford Administration aimed at blunting efforts to legislate a charter for U.S. intelligence, limiting the scope of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and preserving executive primacy over intelligence activities.

The undergraduate semifinalist was a research team at Yale University comprising Julia Carro, Catherine Falls, Levan Margvelashvili, Mykolaj Suchy, and Gordon Xiang.  Their report, Twitter Influence Campaigns, draws conclusions about Russian disinformation methodology from three recent case studies. 

The winning papers were selected from over one hundred submissions by students at dozens of U.S. universities and colleges. Papers were evaluated on their academic rigor, clear presentation, creativity, and the potential to contribute positively to the U.S. intelligence community. In addition to the $5,000 cash award for the winner and the $2,500 semifinalist cash awards, the papers, linked above, will be posted on the Intelligence Studies Project, Strauss and Clements center websites and will be made available to current intelligence practitioners. The graduate semifinalist paper is not currently linked while it is under review for journal publication.

The Intelligence Studies Project was established at the University of Texas at Austin in 2013 as a joint venture of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law and the William P. Clements, Jr. Center for National Security. The Project’s mission is to improve the understanding of intelligence activities and institutions through research, courses, and public events bringing intelligence practitioners together with scholars, students, and the public. The Inman Award recognizes more than six decades of distinguished public service by Bobby R. Inman, Admiral, U.S. Navy (Ret.). Admiral Inman served in multiple leadership positions in the U.S. military, intelligence community, private industry, and the University of Texas. His previous intelligence posts include Director of Naval Intelligence, Vice-Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Director of the National Security Agency, and Deputy Director of Central Intelligence. He continues to serve as a teacher and mentor to students, faculty members, and current government officials while occupying the Lyndon B. Johnson Centennial Chair in National Policy at the LBJ School of Public Affairs.