Carrie Chapman Catt Public Engagement Award
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Established in 2006 to honor an alumnus/alumna of the college who has demonstrated outstanding achievement for his or her work with public entities at the local, state, national, or international levels

Thomas A. Twetten

BS Psychology ’57
Craftsbury Common, Vt.

After earning a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University, Thomas Twetten joined the Central Intelligence Agency in 1961. Accompanied by his intrepid wife and family, he served overseas for nearly 20 years in Africa, Asia, and the Near East.

In 1982 Twetten returned to the CIA headquarters to become chief of operations for technical equipment, then deputy and later chief of operations in the Near East, a territory covering Morocco to India. 

Then in 1988, Twetten was named deputy for CIA’s Operations Directorate, the nation’s worldwide clandestine operations service. During this time period, he was deeply involved in the clandestine war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan by assisting the Afghan freedom fighters in ousting the mighty Soviet Union army from their country. And as the Cold War was ending with the fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of the communist system in Eastern Europe, Twetten became the chief of CIA Operations Directorate with a title of deputy of CIA for operations. He retired in 1995.

Twetten is an Order of the Knoll member and a lifetime member of the ISU Alumni Association.