By Amber Kennedy
Old Dominion University became one of only four winners of a 2021 Excellence in Counterintelligence award from the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) during a Nov. 30 reception at the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC). The honor – the highest accolade awarded by the federal government in counterintelligence – places ODU among the best in the nation working to protect sensitive information from foreign adversaries.
ODU President Brian O. Hemphill, Ph.D., accepted the award from William Lietzau, DCSA director. In his remarks, the President noted ODU was selected from more than 10,000 federal contractors falling under the National Industrial Security Program. “Today, we celebrate an award that truly showcases the commitment and talent of VMASC, as well as ODU,” he said. “Being one of four selected is something we are truly proud of.”
The recognition is given to “cleared contractors and institutions that demonstrate extraordinary achievement in thwarting foreign adversaries’ attempts to compromise or acquire U.S. defense and national security technology.”
The award is an acknowledgement of the University’s investment in research supporting the nation’s defense. ODU received the award only five years after opening its secure facility at VMASC.
“It’s really been a journey for us to get to this point and to achieve what we’re recognizing today. We began our effort to have a secure facility in 2017,” said Morris Foster, vice president for research. “This is something that has been a long-term goal for the University.”
DCSA, formed in 2019, is the largest federal security agency, with a federal and contractor workforce of more than 10,000. DCSA joins two critical missions: counterintelligence and insider threat and training missions. The agency oversees 12,500 industrial facilities and conducts more than 2 million background investigations a year.
To select winners, DCSA assessed CI/Insider Threat Reports and other significant actions that detected and countered foreign intelligence activities, such as actions that led to disruptions, prosecutions, convictions, debarments and administrative actions. Previous winners in academia have included Texas A&M, Purdue University, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.
“We are profoundly conscious of the fact this is a team sport,” Lietzau said, noting that in today’s complicated security landscape, the agency needs partner institutions. “We need the culture that the team has established here at ODU to pervade the research work that’s being done, so we can, in fact, have a chance of competing against an adversary.”
The University’s selection as a DCSA Excellence in Counterintelligence Award winner was celebrated in video remarks by U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine.
Warner, who chairs the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said the award was “one more indication of the incredible progress that’s being made at ODU.”
Reflecting on the growth of the University over the past 20 years, from research to athletics to Department of Defense support, he said, “ODU has become a national leader.”
Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called it a “remarkable achievement for one of the commonwealth’s top-tier public research institutions.”
“ODU is an important part of the network supporting our intelligence community and their work to combat foreign adversaries who seek to harm our nation’s security,” Kaine said. “Now, more than ever, it’s imperative to remain vigilant to protect the research and development investments we make in our critical federal research through our national labs, the Department of Defense and our institutions of higher education.”
In recent years, ODU has developed a research security program and works closely with federal agency partners. The University’s efforts have successfully deterred, detected and mitigated threats to research, and have supported federal investigations.
“By expanding risk assessments, we have prevented attempts by foreign agencies to gain access to and influence our research capabilities,” said David Flanagan, director of secure research and regulated activities at ODU. “I believe that this award signals to federal research agencies that ODU cares about and understands the importance of protecting research, sensitive information and intellectual property, and makes ODU stand out in the research community as one of the best at protecting its research information.”