Phil Potter believes one of his advantages comes from wearing different hats depending on the role he’s serving, and as a UVA professor, founding director of the Batten School’s National Security Policy Center (NSPC) and now inaugural director of UVA’s newly launched National Security Data and Policy Institute, he wears a lot of them.
“I don’t like to give up hats,” Potter says with a slight grin in a recent interview. “Part of it is about having a multiplicity of tools with which to attack problems.”
The sentiment aligns with a leadership style that has given rise to Potter’s relationship building across academia and among practitioners to solidify the university’s standing within the intelligence community. Those collaborative frames were in full focus recently in the Dome Room of the Rotunda where Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines joined Potter alongside Senator Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and UVA President Jim Ryan for a symbolic ribbon-cutting for the new institute.
“UVA has all the attributes of a great mission partner for us,” Haines said to the audience of more than 100, adding that she was “thrilled” Potter had agreed to lead the institute. “I cannot imagine a better person for this job.”
The project was three years in the making, Potter said, and ultimately cemented a $20 million competitive government contract with an emphasis on the areas of emerging technology, AI and “decision advantage” as the institute seeks to bridge government, industry and academia. Potter, who formerly wore the hat of director of the graduate studies program in the Department of Politics, will also be building a post-doctoral program at the institute, which will be located in the same building as the existing NSPC offices at 10th Street Northwest in Charlottesville.
He is quick to tie in the contributions of the many who came before him and express gratitude for the partnerships the university has fostered. At the ribbon-cutting, with a clearly personal touch, Potter acknowledged friends and colleagues in the audience from the State Department, CIA and Rivanna Station (an interagency facility in Albemarle County), as well as leadership from UVA and several local governments.
“I haven’t had a chance to say hi to many of you today,” Potter said, “but those relationships are what sustain us and make all of this possible.”
And while he is central to the new venture, being center stage is not what characterizes Potter’s leadership style.
“Phil has this humility as wide as he is tall,” said George Foresman, a former under secretary in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and current executive director of the NSPC whom Potter cites as one of his mentors. “Although the institute is not a vision of just Phil’s, it’s the vision of a lot of people that Phil has been at the center of, facilitating and orchestrating for the project.”
Foresman said that intelligence officials and academics look at national security issues from dramatically difference perspectives and time frames, but Potter brings a pragmatic view to the table. “Phi listens with intensity, and he hears with intensity.”
The first time the two taught a class together, Foresman recalls expecting his colleague to show up with an exhaustive slide deck and was surprised when Potter had just a couple of questions, but pointed ones which led to a robust discussion among the students.
The anecdote strikes at the heart of something they affectionately refer to as the Foresman-Potter Doctrine comprising just two questions: “What problem are you trying to solve?” and “What questions are you going to ask?” Combined, he said, the queries cut through the unwieldy bulk of bureaucracies to get to the heart of the issue.
Similarly, the two have tried to demystify the world of intelligence by creating entry points for students who are curious about exploring potential careers in national security, but are perhaps lacking exposure to the field or are unsure how to go about gaining access.
Potter’s career has been based on a three-fold mandate of public service, national security and student achievement. Leading the National Security Data and Policy Institute, he’ll be a fulcrum for bringing together academic researchers with officials in the intelligence community to address real world problems, as well as introduce the next generation of leaders to the practitioners and researchers in the field.
As he put it during an interview: “Having enough hats that you can cause things to stack up together that normally wouldn’t – you can create a lot. That’s the vision.”
