National Intelligence Summer Academy (NISA)
Are you thrilled or fascinated by the field of intelligence – spying and counter spying?
Are you considering a career in the U.S. Intelligence Community? Did you know that the U.S. Intelligence Community is made up of 18 separate agencies? Sign up for an intense and exciting five days of learning from highly qualified Master’s and Ph.D. University of North Georgia instructors and practitioners from July 14-18, 2025.
This Academy will:
- Lift the veil of secrecy on the hidden world of intelligence, exploring the history, challenges, and controversies.
- Provide a context for understanding the important role intelligence has played in our nation’s history and continues to play today.
- Provide foundational knowledge of intelligence, setting the stage for possible careers in the field.
- Provide opportunities to learn from the Academy’s instructors include academia, practitioners, and guest speakers
- Hear from experts that have worked with the CIA, FBI, and the former Soviet Union KGB.
Program Details
Grades: Rising 10-12
Dates: July 14-18, 2025
I just wanted to thank you for such an informative and exciting academy and for choosing me to be a part of it. It was an incredible experience and I am very grateful for your work to put this on. Your passion for the intelligence field and we as future leaders were really inspiring. It has definitely given me a lot to think about for college decisions
NISA Participant, 2022
Why at UNG?
If you are interested in an intelligence career, UNG has the following related academic programs.
- Strategic and Security Studies
- Modern and Classical Languages
- Criminal Justice Intelligence Minor
- Institute for Environmental & Spatial Analysis
Where?
UNG’s Cumming Campus. Round-trip motor coach travel from Cumming campus to and from Cumming campus to Dahlonega campus on last day of the Academy.
Fee for Participants: $250
The fee defrays the expenses of all on-campus meals, course materials, and the motor coach travel on the last day of the program. UNG awards a limited number of scholarships to students who would otherwise be unable to attend due to financial limitations.
Note: Students are responsible for the cost of daily travel to and from the Cumming campus and any incidental purchases of snacks and beverages.
Who is Eligible?
- 50 U.S. high school students who will be sophomores, juniors or seniors in fall 2025.
- Priority consideration given to students with a weighted cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher.
- Priority consideration also given to students who have studied a strategic language (such as Arabic, Farsi, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) in school or elsewhere.
- 10 Georgia high school teachers may audit the course.
Application Open:
December 1, 2024
Their humility stopped them from seeking fame or fortune because their love of country sparked their exploits.
Brian Kilmeade
George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution
Program Information
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Executive Director, Strategic Studies Program & Partnerships and Professor of Strategic & Security Studies, University of North Georgia
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Merrily Baird
Merrily Baird earned a B.A. in anthropology and a M.A. in Japanese Studies before joining the CIA in 1970. First an analyst of Japanese politics, she soon reinvented herself as a North Korean specialist. Thereafter she tracked foreign nuclear bomb programs by overseeing the Intelligence Community's (IC) National Intelligence Estimates (NIEs) on this subject. In the early 1980s, she was assigned overseas and then returned to Headquarters to head analytical branches in the Directorate of Intelligence. She concluded her career as a criminal investigator in the Office of Inspector General, working on the post-mortem of the Aldrich Ames spying case. In 1994, she was awarded the Intelligence Community's National Medal of Achievement in recognition of her work on hard targets and coordination with other IC agencies.
Ms. Baird is the author of the chapter on North Korean strategic thinking in "Know Thy Enemy" produced by the Air War College in Montgomery, Alabama, and a chapter summarizing her Agency career in a commercially-produced book ( "Stories from Langley"). Her love of Japanese culture is reflected in an art book published in 2001 and titled "Symbols of Japan: Thematic Motifs in Art and Design."
Jack Barsky
Jack Barsky’s life marks him as one of a kind. He was born in Germany, became a chemistry professor, was recruited by the KGB, spent 10 years in the United States spying for the Russians, and ended up a United States citizen and information technology executive.
Jack’s story was featured in May of 2015 on CBS 60 Minutes. His memoir “Deep Undercover” was released in March of 2017. The book has been translated into German, Swedish and Polish. Jack has appeared frequently on US cable stations such as CNN, FOX and MSNBC as well as on foreign TV including such countries as Germany, Poland, Japan, Turkey and France.
In his 6th career as a public speaker Jack has had appearances across the United States as well as in Germany, Ireland and Poland.
Patrick Barton
Dr. Patrick Barton spent over 20 years in the Signals Intelligence field. His career spanned multiple overseas assignments and nine years at the National Security Agency. He then moved into the Covert Action field, working for the U.S. Government as a pilot and sensor operator.
He holds Airline Transport Pilot and Flight Instructor licenses with multiple type-ratings and is employed as a Captain and Check Airman by Delta Air Lines, flying the Boeing 767-300ER internationally from Atlanta and New York.
He holds a B.S. in Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle, a Master of Strategic Intelligence degree from the American Military University and a PhD (Homeland Security) from Northcentral University.
Dr. Barton teaches Signals Intelligence and Cyber Warfare at the American Military University and Unmanned Aerial System topics at Big Bend Community College.
His research interests include the interface between offensive cyber warfare and signals intelligence and the impact of press publication of classified intelligence information. He is a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, the OSS Society and still consults privately in the intelligence and cyber fields.
Melvin Gamble
A retired Senior Intelligence officer, Mr. Gamble served in senior executive positions in the Directorate of Operations in the Central Intelligence Agency to include: Chief and Deputy Chief of Stations in Africa and Latin America; Chief of Central Asia and the Caucasus; Special Assistant to the Associate Deputy Director of Operations; Deputy Chief of European Division, and Chief of Africa Division. Mr. Gamble served five tours in Africa and one in Latin America.
Upon promotion to the Senior Intelligence Service ranks, Mr. Gamble attended the State Department Senior Seminar Course, which comprised State, FBI, and representatives from each military service. Mr. Gamble has a B.A. in History from Howard University and a B.S. in International Public Administration from the University of Southern California. Mr. Gamble received numerous performance awards and, upon retirement, the Distinguished Certificate of Intelligence Medal, and the Director of CIA Award.
Mr. Gamble worked for several companies in the private sector before starting his own company. He is currently President of Gamble Advisory Group, a security-consulting firm. He also serves as an advisor for security matters on the Boards of two Wall Street firms as well as the Boards of the International Spy Museum and the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation.
Brian Hooper
Brian Hooper is an attorney based in Atlanta, practicing in Georgia, Virginia, Florida, and Washington, DC. Brian’s government experience includes clandestine service in the intelligence community, later serving as the Associate Director of the Office of WMD Terrorism at the U.S. Department of State. He is the president of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) Atlanta chapter.
After completing undergraduate studies at Washington and Lee University in 1998, Brian attended the Chinese University of Hong Kong and received a Master of Philosophy degree in 2000. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 2003. After graduation, Brian clerked for Judge David B. Sentelle of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Rachel Ingram
Ms. Ingram serves as the Senior Reporting Authority (SRA) at NSA/CSS Georgia (NSAG). She is primarily responsible for ensuring that NSA intelligence products meet or exceed NSA dissemination standards, adhere to policy and guidance, and meet or exceed ODNI standards for analytic integrity. Ms. Ingram has been with the NSA since 2012, and previously held positions as an Intelligence Analyst (IA), IA Leader/Manager, and a customer liaison. Prior to that, Ms. Ingram was a member of the U.S. Air Force from 2002 – 2011. During her tenure with the Air Force, Ms. Ingram held IA and customer support positions at NSA, and got a Master’s of Science in Strategic Intelligence (MSSI) at NIU (Class of 2009). She completed the trifecta of federal employment by spending just under a year as a contractor at NSAW from 2011 to 2012. She is passionate about intelligence analysis and knowledge management.
Ms. Ingram grew up about 45 minutes east of Cincinnati, OH. She has a B.A. in Psychology from Hawai’i Pacific University as well as her MSSI from NIU. She lives in Evans, GA, with her husband, Robert; three sons, Griffin, August, and Corbin; one daughter, Arabella; and one ornery Bernedoodle named Jarvis. She loves God, family, and football, so she can be found at home cheering for the Bengals nearly every Sunday afternoon during football season.
Mary Beth Krone
Supervisory Intelligence Analyst Mary Beth Krone is a 27-year veteran with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Before her promotion to supervisory intelligence analyst, she completed two other intelligence analyst assignments specializing in Domestic Terrorism, and Drug Trafficking in the Atlanta and Miami Field Offices, respectively. She currently leads a team of intelligence professionals and oversees threat-driven intelligence collection, exploitation, and reporting in support of FBI cyber investigations and threat mitigation in the State of Georgia. Ms. Krone earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice, with a minor in Psychology, from the University of Florida.
Landon Plumbtree
Intelligence Analyst Landon Plumbtree has been an FBI employee for 7 years embedded on a computer intrusion squad at the Atlanta Field Office, investigating national security cyber threat actors. He focuses on providing impactful research and analysis and maintaining key liaison relationships in furtherance of cyber investigations as well as driving intelligence collection for enhanced understanding of nation-state cyber threats. Landon holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology as well as Sociology with a minor in Criminology. Landon also holds Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) certifications in information technology.
Megan Mead
IA Megan Mead is an FBI Intelligence Analyst working cyber national security threats. Over 14 years with the FBI, Megan has worked Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Cyber threats and works closely with several other IC agencies. Megan received her B.Sc. from the University of Tampa for Criminology and Global Affairs.
Lew Regenstein
A fourth generation native Atlantan, Lewis worked for several years for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, from 1966-71, concentrating mainly on Communist China, analyzing and collecting foreign intelligence information, and helping resettle defectors. He has written about ten books (two of which were nominated by their publishers for Pulitzer prizes) and hundreds of articles, book reviews, and features for newspapers and magazines on foreign affairs, national security, intelligence and espionage, World War II, the Civil War, and wildlife and the environment.
His most recent article on National Security was written in August, 2021 for The Washington Times, describing how for 69 years the Russians have covertly attacked American diplomats, intelligence officers, and military attaches abroad, using a form of pulsed energy/microwave radiation. that causes severe and sometimes permanent neurological damage, which is also the subject of a book he is writing.
He has a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Political Science from, respectively, the University of Pennsylvania and Emory University, and spent his Junior Year Abroad at the Institute for American Universities in Aix-en-Provence, France, where he learned to speak French and some German.
Cassandra Robinson
Tactical Analyst Cassandra (Cassie) Robinson has been an FBI employee for 9 years with 8 of those years as an intelligence professional embedded on computer intrusion squads at Washington Field Office, and most recently Atlanta Field Office, investigating national security cyber threat actors. She focuses on providing impactful research and analysis and maintaining key liaison relationships in furtherance of cyber investigations as well as driving intelligence collection for enhanced understanding of nation-state cyber threats. Cassie holds a Bachelor of Science in International Trade and Development and Master’s degree in Digital Forensics and Cyber Investigation as well as 3 Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) certifications in information security and cyber threat intelligence.
Dell Spry
Dell Spry is the Managing Director of Security for Chesley Brown International after previously serving the nation as a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation followed by serving as an adjunct instructor with the FBI teaching national security matters at the FBI Academy.
While assigned to the FBI headquarters, Spry was a member of the National Security Council Counterterrorism Working Group, the State Department Foreign Emergency Counterterrorism Support Counterintelligence Center, and liaison to the CIA Counterintelligence Center, Counterespionage Group.
He was the lead investigator for the FBI in the Aldrich Ames investigation for which he received the FBI Director's Award of Excellence in Counterintelligence Investigation and the CIA Director's Meritorious Service Award.
Gabe Scheinbaum
Special Agent (SA) Gabe Scheinbaum started with the FBI in 2012 and was first assigned to San Juan, Puerto Rico. From 2012 to 2015, Gabe conducted investigations of counterintelligence activities and was a member of the San Juan SWAT team. In 2015, Gabe and his family transferred to Atlanta, where he continued to work CI cases. Gabe also became a Crisis Management Coordinator, Defensive Tactics Coordinator, and Physical Fitness Coordinator, and is a graduate of the FBI Skills Presentation Course. In 2017, Gabe switched to the Domestic Terrorism squad and worked cases involving Racially Motivated Extremists Activity for three years. As Campus Liaison Agent since 2018, Gabe currently sits on the Outreach Squad assisting with Recruiting, Training, and connecting with the College/University Campus Chief Community throughout the state. Prior to the FBI, Gabe was a US Army officer, serving 16-straight months of combat in Iraq. SA Scheinbaum is married with two children, loves Jeff Goldblum, and baseball. He holds BA in Communications from Marymount University and has a Master’s in Crisis Management from the University of Florida.
Ian Thomas
Ian has 25 years of federal service as an Intelligence Analyst for the National Security Agency and the U.S. Army. He has served in numerous capacities, including Analyst, Senior Analyst, Instructor, Analytic Methodologist, and Training Manager. Throughout his career he has focused on innovation in intelligence and using virtual technologies to involve non-traditional partners in the analytic process. One of his favorite assignments was serving as the Public & Private Partnership Strategist for NSA/CSS in Georgia. In this role, he pushed to make NSA more accessible to students, faculty, researchers, and others in the public sphere that can contribute to, and benefit from, the agency's mission.
Ian holds a B.A. in Political Science, an M.A. in Management and Leadership, and an M.S. in Environmental Policy. He is a graduate of the Intelligence Community's Advanced Analysis Program and has championed inter-agency analytic projects throughout his career.
Sean Wiswesser
Sean Wiswesser is a national security professional with over 27 years in the foreign service, defense, law enforcement and intelligence communities. He served over 10 years overseas, including war-zone service, and had 5 joint-duty assignments in his career.
Sean received a master’s degree in strategic studies in 2023 from the USA Air War College (Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base). His strategic studies (thesis) paper focused on the failure of Russian airpower in the Ukraine War and was awarded the 2023 Air University “Russian Integrated Deterrence Award.” It was published as “Potemkin on the Dnieper: The Failure of Russian Airpower in the Ukraine War,” by the UK's Journal of Small Wars and Insurgencies in March 2023. His research work has also been incorporated into two upcoming book projects (with chapters by Sean) on the Ukraine War.
He was a 1996 graduate with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead Scholar with a double major in History and Russian/Slavic Linguistics. Sean attended the Hill School in Pottstown, PA where he graduated Cum Laude in 1992. He speaks fluent Russian and conversational Lithuanian.
Dave White
Strategic Advisor & Principal Intelligence Consultant. Mr. White has over 35 years of government and industry experience supporting a broad range of roles and missions within the U.S. Government’s Intelligence and Defense Communities. He has worked for the U.S. Air Force, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, and Defense Intelligence Agency. His intelligence expertise includes collection operations, analysis, and systems engineering.
Prices/fees are subject to change without notice.