B.A., University of North Carolina; J.D., University of North Carolina
Dana Dyson has served with the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA’s) Office of General Counsel (OGC) since December 1999 and is currently the Deputy General Counsel of CIA for Operations. In that capacity, she provides legal advice and counsel to the Director and Deputy Director of CIA and supervises attorneys assigned to the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, Directorate of Science and Technology, Directorate of Analysis, and Directorate of Digital Innovation/Center for Cyber Intelligence, as well as attorneys assigned to CIA’s eleven topical and geographic Mission Centers. She is responsible for the legal advice and services provided by those counsel in support of CIA operational activities and analysis. From January 2021to March 2022, Ms. Dyson served as the Acting Senior Deputy General Counsel and the Acting Deputy General Counsel for Operations, providing advice and counsel to Agency leadership and supervising the same operational law cadre. Prior to these assignments, from April 2014 to January 2021, she served as the Chief of OGC’s Operations Division and as the Legal Advisor to the Deputy Director of CIA for Operations (DDO).
Ms. Dyson graduated from the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill School of Law in 1990 with a Juris Doctorate Degree and from UNC in 1987 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Before joining the CIA, Ms. Dyson served on active duty as a judge advocate in the US. Navy from 1990-1999, serving in various positions including as Deputy Legal Advisor to the Vice Chief of Naval Operations, Staff Judge Advocate, USS SIMON LAKE (AS-33), Staff Judge Advocate, Submarine Squadron Twenty-two, and Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant, U.S. Naval Academy. She subsequently affiliated with the Navy Reserve. Her reserve assignments included service as Deputy Legal Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and as Commanding Officer of the Navy JAG reserve unit supporting the Chief of Naval Personnel and Commander, Navy Personnel Command. Ms. Dyson retired from the Navy in 2012 as a Captain in the Navy JAG Corps Reserve.