Dr. David A. Kay was appointed by the Central intelligence Agency in June 2003 as Special Advisor for Strategy regarding Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Programs.

In that role, Kay was based in Iraq where he supervised the overall approach for the search for Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.

In announcing the appointment, CIA Director George Tenet said:  “David Kay’s experience and background make him the ideal person for this new role.  His understanding of the history of the Iraqi programs and knowledge of past Iraqi efforts to hide WMD will be of inestimable help in determining the current status of Saddam Hussein’s illicit weapons.”

Dr. Kay, working for the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency and UNSCOM, led three arms inspection missions as chief nuclear weapons inspector in Iraq during 1991-92. Later in the 1990's, he was a Senior Fellow at the Arlington, Virginia-based think tank, The Potomac Institute.

He was formerly a Corporate Senior Vice President at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), where he led SAIC's efforts to support the U.S. Government's counter-terrorism initiatives and efforts to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

During his tenure as the UN's Chief Nuclear Weapons Inspector, he led numerous inspections into Iraq following the end of the Gulf War to determine Iraqi nuclear weapons production capability. He led teams that found and identified the scope and extent of Iraqi uranium enrichment activities, located the major Iraqi center for assembly of nuclear weapons, and seized large amounts of documents on the Iraqi nuclear weapons program, spending four days as a Saddam hostage in a Baghdad parking lot. He also led the analysis of the nature of the Iraqi nuclear program and its implications for non-proliferation and arms control activities.

Dr. Kay has frequently testified before Congress, and his articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, The Washington Quarterly and The New Republic, and a number of scholarly journals. He also has appeared on Nightline, McNeal-Lehrer, Today, Good Morning America, CNN and the evening news programs of PBS, ABC, CBS and NBC and has been a frequent BBC commentator on nuclear and defense matters.

He has had fifteen years of international management experience with international organizations and trade associations, including the International Atomic Energy Agency and as Secretary General of the Uranium Institute, in London, United Kingdom, which is the international industrial association for energy from nuclear fuel, comprising 82 companies from 21 countries. Dr. Kay has extensive business experience in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.

He has served on a number of official U.S. government delegations and government and private advisory commissions, including the Defense Science Board, U.S. State Department's Advisory Commission on International Organizations, the Rockefeller Foundation's Advisory Group on Conflicts in International Relations, and the U.S. Delegation to the UN General Assembly.

Dr. Kay holds a BA degree from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master's in International Affairs and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University. He is the recipient of the IAEA's Distinguished Service Award and the U.S. Secretary of State's Commendation.