Office Artifacts: John Woodward

Pardee School prof shares CIA memorabilia

Office Artifacts: John Woodward

Pardee School prof shares CIA memorabilia

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John Woodward, Professor of International Relations at Boston University Pardee School of Global Studies

Framed photo of Saddam Hussein being fingerprinted after being captured by American military forces in the office of John Woodward, professor of international relations at Boston University Pardee School of Global Studies

A photograph of Saddam Hussein with Woodward’s friend David Sheppard, an FBI agent. “There are probably 100 FBI officers who got a photograph taken of them fingerprinting Saddam Hussein,” Woodward says.

Sindhi cap or Balochi cap in the office of John Woodward, professor of international relations at Boston University Pardee School of Global Studies

A Sindhi cap, also known as a Balochi cap, is worn by men in Afghanistan and Pakistan as a sign of their religious devotion. The caps are frequently given as a gift or a sign of respect.

Career Intelligence Medal from the US Central Intelligence Agency in the office of John Woodward, professor of international relations at the Boston University Pardee School of Global Studies

Woodward received the Career Intelligence Medal from the Central Intelligence Agency in October 2015 for his 21 years of service with the agency. The medal is awarded “for a cumulative record of service which reflects exceptional achievements that substantially contributed to the mission of the Agency.”

Honorable Discharge Papers from the American military belonging to John Woodward's father, displayed in the office of John Woodward, professor of international relations at Boston University Pardee School of Global Studies

Woodward’s late father was honorably discharged from the Army in 1944. He found the discharge papers in his mother’s attic when he joined BU last year. “You can see it confirms his overseas service, where he got four bronze stars,” Woodward says.

Challenge coins displayed in the office of John Woodward, professor of international relations at Boston University Pardee School of Global Studies

Challenge coins are “awarded in cases where you did something that deserves more than just a handshake, but doesn’t rise to the level of giving you a medal for your uniform,” Woodward says. His large collection contains coins from the US Military in Iraq, the US Embassy in Manila, the Boston Police Department, and the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services.

Click on the circles above to see more of what John Woodward displays in his Bay State Road office.

November 15, 2016

Amy Laskowski

Cydney Scott

John Woodward has a habit of using the sentence, “I can neither confirm nor deny I served in that country.”

Woodward, a Pardee School of Global Studies and College of Arts & Sciences professor of the practice of international relations, is a 21-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency, and on display in his Bay State Road office are many artifacts and memorabilia from his treks abroad. During his intelligence career, Woodward estimates he traveled to 30 countries, serving as an operations officer in the National Clandestine Service, as a technical intelligence officer in the Directorate of Science and Technology, and as director of the US Department of Defense Biometrics Management Office. He has testified before Congress four times, and in October 2015 received the CIA’s Career Intelligence Medal, awarded to those who have significantly contributed to the agency. Woodward’s area of expertise is biometrics.

Hollywood’s depiction of CIA agents isn’t entirely accurate, Woodward says—for instance, “We’re not all knuckle draggers and torturers. Most intelligence work is tedium and requires having great attention to detail over seemingly trivial matters. There are a lot of hours spent on preparation and minutes spent on actual execution.”

He tries to drive these points home in the classes he teaches on Intelligence in a Democratic Society and Intelligence and Homeland Security. He says that most of his students take the courses because they are interested in espionage, but his job is to “make them realize there is a tension between intelligence activities in democracies. Democracies have to balance the kinds of things that intelligence agencies do—working in secret—with making sure there is proper oversight of intelligence activities. Most students would rather hear spy stories, but I think it is important to stress that there is a tension and it’s very important from a policy perspective to think about this.”

Although awards and foreign souvenirs catch visitors’ eyes, the item in his office that means the most to him isn’t related to his CIA career. His late father, who died when he was 10, was a World War II combat veteran. After retiring from the CIA, Woodward searched his mother’s attic for furniture for his new Boston apartment. “I started going through an old cardboard box and found my father’s World War II discharge papers, and you can see it confirms his overseas service, where he got four bronze stars,” he says. “I had never seen this document before.

“It was something that I thought I would never have, and it was because I was moving to BU, that I got those things,” he says.

In our new series “Office Artifacts,” BU Today highlights interesting artifacts professors display in their office. Have a suggestion about someone we should profile? Email amlaskow@bu.edu.

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