Retired senior CIA official to speak at UMPI
PRESQUE ISLE — The next speaker in the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Distinguished Lecturer Series will provide a rare glimpse into spy technology and some of the tools real spies use to conduct their operations when he gives his presentation in early March.
Robert Wallace, 
the retired director of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Office of Technical Service, will deliver his talk “How 20th Century Technology Transformed 21st Century Espionage” on Thursday, March 7, at 7 p.m. in the Campus Center. The public is invited to attend this free event as well as a reception taking place at 6 p.m. prior to Wallace’s talk; refreshments will be served.
Wallace explained that, in the seven decades since World War II, technology has revolutionized the way we work, travel, communicate and learn. These fundamental technological changes to daily life have been equally profound in the world of spying and espionage. At the CIA, smart engineers found ways to make many of the fantastic gadgets that “Q” issued to James Bond in movies from “Dr. No” (1963) to “Skyfall” (2012) a part of the real spy’s toolbox.
“Every new technology, such as digital imaging, battery chemistry, electronic bugs, silicone materials, personal computing, satellites and the Internet have been incorporated for use in espionage operations by the scientists and technical officers in the CIA’s Office of Technical Service, which is really ‘America’s Q,’” Wallace said.
During his fast-paced, illustrated talk, Wallace will trace the development and use of “spy technology” from World War II to the present, featuring rare photographs of spy gear, along with graphics, video images and audio clips of clandestine operations.
Wallace’s 32-year career with the CIA (1971-2003) included assignments as an operations officer, station chief and director of clandestine technical programs. Following retirement in 2003, Wallace founded Artemus Consulting Group, a network of intelligence professionals providing management counsel, strategic planning and representational services to government and corporate clients.
Wallace earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Ottawa (Kansas) University in 1966 and a master’s degree in political science from the University of Kansas in 1968. He served in the U.S. Army during 1968-70, led long-range reconnaissance patrol teams of Company E, 75th Rangers in Vietnam and was awarded the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, two Bronze Stars with “V” and three Air Medals. In 2002, he co-authored “Nine from the Ninth,” a memoir of the Vietnam War based on the authors’ combat experiences.
Wallace moved to Washington, D.C., in 1970 and served as an administrative assistant to late Ohio Congressman William McCulloch before joining the CIA in 1971.
Wallace speaks and writes on intelligence, leadership and management topics throughout the United States. He is co-author of “Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA’s Spytechs from Communism to al-Qaeda” (2008), contributor to “Vaults, Mirrors & Masks: Rediscovering U.S. Counterintelligence” (2009), co-author of “The Official CIA Manual of Deception and Trickery” (2009) and co-author of “Spy Sites of New York City” (2012).
Wallace and his wife, Mary Margaret, live in northern Virginia. He is a member of the McLean Baptist Church and a strategic consultant to companies supporting the Department of Defense and the intelligence community.
For more information about this Distinguished Lecture, call the University’s Community and Media Relations Office at 768-9452.
