About

Rich Engel retired in December 2019 as the Director for Analytic Outreach for the National Intelligence Council (NIC). In this capacity, he was the principal interface between science and technology, international affairs, and social science subject matter experts and the NIC. He enabled the development of expert national security analysis for the highest levels of the US Government by providing perspectives and insights to senior analysts.


Prior to his last position, Rich served as the Deputy Director for Strategic Programs and the Director for Environment and Natural Resources within the NIC. He has actively supported the NIC’s Global Trend series of reports with contributions to Global Trends 2020, 2025 and 2030. Within the NIC, he led interagency wide research on climate change, water, food, disruptive technology, and energy issues. Rich actively participated in all analytic efforts of the group to include future warfare, strategic gamming, political stability, health, and warning. Additionally he was the intelligence community’s (IC) topic expert for environment and natural resources.


While on the NIC, Rich was also the Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Science and Technology (science and technology weapons analysts) where he was the principal representative for the National Intelligence Officer to the Scientific Technical Intelligence Committee (STIC) overseeing emerging civil and military technologies. Before that, Rich was the Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Economics with a concentration in emerging civil technologies and national innovation systems. He also served as the principal NIC analyst for health issues.


From August 2000 to September 2004 he was a senior analyst with the Strategic Assessments Group of the Office of Transnational issues of the Central Intelligence Agency working on a wide range of geopolitical, future warfare, and technology issues.


Previously Rich was Commandant of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C. Prior to that, he was the commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. where he directed the development, test and evaluation of manned and unmanned aircraft systems, the testing of experimental and research aerospace vehicles, the operation of the USAF Test Pilot School, and the development, control and operation of the Edwards Flight Test Range. While in the Air Force, he was an experimental test pilot and accumulated more than 4,000 flying hours, and flew over 30 different aircraft.

Rich’s Profile

linkedin.com/in/rich-engel-101b017

Websites