Donald Cummings, Ph.D.

Donald Cummings, Ph.D. is a former program manager and principal analyst for a major defense contractor as well as adjunct faculty member at George Mason University. During his time in the Washington, D.C. area, Dr. Cummings was the first Program Manager for the “Intelligence Community Officers Course.” This program of instruction introduced mid-level managers from across the Intelligence Community (IC) to the challenges facing the current senior IC leadership. The goal was to prepare these individuals to be the next generation of IC leaders. Dr. Cummings assembled and led the course development team beginning in 2000 through the 1000th student’s graduation in 2005.

Dr. Cummings led and served as principal analyst in several classified and unclassified futures research projects for various clients. Several of these studies focused on military force structure evolution. In one case, Dr. Cummings was the co-author of the methodology that became the foundation for an interagency project that produced an Intelligence Community-coordinated database of Warsaw Pact military equipment, organization and manpower. This project remained active from 1982 until 1992.

Dr. Cummings presented “The Government and Politics of Latin America” to upper division undergraduates at George Mason University and Comparative Politics to freshmen and sophomores. He was awarded the departmental Outstanding Lecturer Award in 1991.

Dr. Cummings received his Ph.D. and M.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara and his undergraduate degree from The Virginia Military Institute. He is also a graduate of the US Army Command and General Staff College.