Larry Valero, Ph.D., director of The University of Texas at El Paso’s National Security Studies Institute (NSSI), recently was elected president of the International Association for Intelligence Education, a group created to advance research, knowledge and professional development in intelligence education.
Valero’s duties include oversight of the organization’s board of directors and its initiatives such as the certification of intelligence education programs around the world, the group’s general operations, its decisions about awards and recognition for students and scholars.
There has been a steady growth in intelligence studies curriculum during the past decade and Valero credits IAFIE for building the fields’ credibility and raising academic standards. The associate professor of security studies said he wants to build on the organization’s 500 members who are an international mix of students, faculty, industry professionals, corporations and academic institutions.
“My hope is to spread intelligence education that is uniform and fundamental on a global scale,” said Valero, who took office in July 2015. “There is a great need today for knowledgeable instructors who can guide students to think critically about challenging security issues.”
IAFIE Executive Director Mark M. Lowenthal, Ph.D., said Valero’s longstanding involvement with the association and the evident success of UTEP’s NSSI made Valero an excellent candidate to lead the organization.
“Dr. Valero has a firm understanding of IAFIE’s mission to increase and, more importantly, to improve the teaching of intelligence as an accepted academic field at the undergraduate and graduate level,” Lowenthal said.
The selection also was praised by David Jimenez, a former El Pasoan who is an intelligence analyst with the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C. He called Valero a futurist and visionary in academia and national security who will help the organization grow on an international level.
Jimenez, an occasional NSSI adjunct instructor, said Valero will promote innovative collaborative efforts with his IAFIE colleagues and lead their charge to recommend and influence positive, long-term academic change that will benefit students who study intelligence, homeland security and national security curriculum around the world.
Patricia Witherspoon, Ph.D., dean of the College of Liberal Arts, said Valero’s election to this prestigious position illustrates the great respect his IAFIE colleagues have for him.
“He will be an excellent leader in this role, and his work will bring credit to UTEP and the National Security Studies Institute,” Witherspoon said.
Valero said this election will bring greater exposure to UTEP and its NSSI, considered a national leader in intelligence education. The University helped to showcase the institute’s quality when it played host during the 2013 IAFIE conference, which boasted the largest annual attendance in the group’s 11-year history.