Jeffrey T. Richelson

Life & Legacy

Jeffrey Talbot Richelson (31 December 1949 – 11 November 2017) was an American author and academic researcher who studied the process of intelligence gathering and national security. He authored at least thirteen books and many articles about intelligence, and directed the publication of several of the National Security Archive's collections of source documents.
Richelson was notable for his relentless Freedom of Information requests in order to further scholarship in intelligence and espionage. According to Bruce D. Berkowitz, Richelson was once avoided by the intelligence community as an outsider and a security risk, but gradually became trusted to the extent that he was invited to Central Intelligence Agency sponsored conferences.
Richelson grew up in the Bronx and earned his BA from the City College of New York. He completed a PhD in political science at the University of Rochester in 1975 and went on to teach at the University of Texas, Austin and American University. Richelson was a senior fellow with the National Security Archive.