The IDP Team

IDP Leadership

Michael Marks, Managing Partner

Michael Marks, Managing Partner, is a senior Washington-based executive, with 40 years of public and private sector experience in international affairs and national security issues, technology competitiveness, innovative open source intelligence methodologies, and business development in the federal government marketplace. He is a seasoned businessperson, international negotiator and interlocutor with the highest levels of the U.S. government and industry, as well as a corporate strategic planner and decision-maker. Michael was a founder of Synthesis Partners, a leading innovative open source decision intelligence firm. Prior to that he was President, Michael B. Marks and Associates and an Adjunct Staff Member with the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA). Michael also served as Executive Vice President, Projectavision, Inc., Vice President for Corporate Development, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and Vice President for Strategic and Government Operations, Reality Mobile, LLC. He held a number of high-level government policy positions in the Executive and Legislative branches, including Senior Policy Advisor to the Office of Director, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA); Assistant Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Executive Office of the President; Senior Policy Advisor to the Under Secretary for Security Assistance, Science and Technology, U.S. Department of State; and Legislative Assistant for Foreign Affairs and National Security for Senator Jake Garn. He holds a Masters degree in Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh.

Other Resources

IDP has nearly 40 fully vetted Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and researchers on call including those stationed outside the US. All of our partners, managers, and staff are senior-level professionals. Each has 20+ years of expertise in government, industry, technical areas, research, and country knowledge.

Advisory Group

Dr. Mark Lowenthal is the President and CEO of the Intelligence & Security Academy. Dr. Lowenthal has served as the Assistant Director of Central Intelligence for Analysis and Production and as the Vice Chairman for Evaluation on the National Intelligence Council. He was the staff director of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in the 104th Congress (1995-97), where he directed the committee's study on the future of the Intelligence Community, IC21: The Intelligence Community in the 21st Century. He has also served in the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), as both an office director and as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State. He was also the Senior Specialist in U.S. Foreign Policy at the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress. In 2011-2012, Dr. Lowenthal led the Defense Intelligence Analysis Review for the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (USDI). Dr. Lowenthal has written extensively on intelligence and national security issues, including six books and over 90 articles or studies. His most recent book, Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy (Sage/CQ Press, 5th ed., 2011) has become the standard college and graduate school textbook on the subject. Two of his books are novels: Crispan Magicker (1797); and The Great God Pan (a Kindle e-book). Dr. Lowenthal received his B.A. from Brooklyn College and his Ph.D. in history from Harvard University. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Johns Hopkins University; he was an adjunct at Columbia University from 1993-2007. In 2005, Dr. Lowenthal was awarded the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal. In 1988, Dr. Lowenthal was the Grand Champion on Jeopardy!, the television quiz show.
The Hon. Tidal W. McCoy, Chairman of the Cyber and Space Transportation Association and former Managing Partner and Chairman at Washington Capital Partners, LLC which he founded in 1998. Hon. McCoy was the Founder and Vice Chairman of the George Washington National Bank. Prior to that, he was a Senior Vice President for Government Relations at Thiokol. Hon. McCoy held several Presidential-appointed positions within the government as Acting Under Secretary and Acting Secretary of the Air Force. He also served as an Assistant Secretary of the USAF for Readiness Support and an Assistant Secretary for Manpower Reserve Affairs and Installations and Assistant for National Security Affairs to Senator Jake Garn of Utah, Scientific Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Engineering, and Systems, Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense. He was a Member of the National Security Council Member of the Long-Range Planning and Net Assessment Group in the office of the Secretary of Defense. Mr. McCoy serves on several corporate and non-profit Boards of Directors and is currently the Chairman of the Board of the Space Transportation Association of the United States. Hon. McCoy served as a Combat Unit Commander in Germany and Vietnam and as an Intelligence Officer at DIA, CIA, and NSA.