Richard Calder
Richard Calder (1943 – 3 November 2014) was a senior official at the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Connecticut and a master's degree in information systems from George Washington University. He served as a United States Navy radio operator before joining the CIA in 1966 as a communications officer in the Directorate of Administration, Office of Communications. He was briefly trapped inside the CIA base in Benghazi, Libya, during riots after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
Calder held several CIA roles, including a case officer in the Directorate of Operations, deputy chief of the Near East Division for Arab operations, and chief of Operations and Resource Management Staff. In 1995, CIA Director John M. Deutch asked him to run the Directorate of Administration with broad authority. Calder introduced activity-based costing and a working-capital fund, returned much of the DA budget to operational units, and required DA services to be offered on a reimbursable basis. These changes freed up resources for the CIA’s main missions. He retired from the CIA in 2001.
After leaving the agency, Calder became president of Abraxas Corporation, serving until 2008. He was married with two children and lived in Vienna, Virginia. He died of a heart attack on 3 November 2014.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 20:23 (CET).