Vice Adm. Robert B. Murrett (Ret.)
Deputy Director, Syracuse University Institute for Security Policy and Law
Professor of Practice, Public Administration and International Affairs, SU Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
email: rbmurret@maxwell.syr.edu
phone: 315.443.3682
office: 300G Dineen Hall
Since 2011, Vice Adm. Robert B. Murrett (Ret.) has been a faculty member in the Maxwell School Department of Public Administration and International Affairs and the Deputy Director of the Syracuse University Institute for Security Policy and Law. He holds a courtesy faculty appointment with the Forensic and National Security Sciences Institute and is on the Advisory Board of the Institute for Veterans and Military Families, both at Syracuse University. In 2016, Murrett was the recipient of the Birkhead-Burkhead Teaching Excellence Award and Professorship at the Maxwell School. In addition, he is a staff member at the RAND Corporation and the Institute for Defense Analyses, and he chairs the MITRE Intelligence Advisory Board.
A specialist in defense analysis, military intelligence, national security, and international relations, Murrett teaches popular courses in the Maxwell School on the “US Intelligence Community: Governance and Practice” and “US Defense Strategy, Military Posture, and Combat Operations”; leads capstone projects for the Veterans Administration, Rand, and IDA; and organizes legendary “staff rides” for students to discuss military leadership and strategy at Fort Stanwix and Oriskany in Upstate New York and the Gettysburg, PA, National Military Park.
Before his Syracuse appointment, Murrett was the fourth Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, from 2006 through 2010. Before this appointment, Murrett served as the Director of Naval Intelligence from 2005 until 2006 and the Vice Director of Intelligence on the Joint Staff from 2002-2005.
Following his commissioning, Murrett was assigned as an afloat intelligence officer, including Mediterranean, North Atlantic, and western Pacific deployments aboard the USS Kitty Hawk, USS America, and USS Independence. He was assigned to the Defense Intelligence College in 1980, then detailed to the Chief of Naval Operations Intelligence Plot as a watch stander and briefing officer for Navy civilian and military leaders. From 1983 to 1985, he served as Assistant Intelligence Officer for the Commander, Second Fleet.
In 1989, Murrett reported to the Commander in Chief, US Pacific Fleet, where he was assigned as Operational Intelligence Officer. From 1992 to 1995, he served as Assistant Chief of Staff-Intelligence for the Commander, Carrier Group Eight and was deployed to the European and Central Command theaters. Between 1995 and 1997, he was Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence for the Commander, Second Fleet and served concurrently as N2 for NATO’s Striking Fleet Atlantic.
Murrett received his bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Buffalo and masters degrees in government and strategic intelligence from Georgetown University and the Defense Intelligence College, respectively.