William A. Christison ’50

Bill died peacefully in Santa Fe, N.M., June 13, 2010, after a brief illness.

A Boston native, Bill came to Princeton from Andover. He was a member of Terrace Club. In pursuing his degree in public affairs he studied Russian, and upon graduation, with the Cold War flaring up, he was promptly recruited by the CIA.  

Bill spent much of the next two decades on the Soviet desk and working on nuclear-proliferation issues. He then became head of an analytical unit in Saigon, where he met his future wife, Kathleen, a political analyst. They married in 1977. Two years later, after he had retired from his position as director of the CIA’s Office of Regional and Political Analysis, they moved to Santa Fe.  

In retirement, Bill worked first as a computer programmer, then gradually made the journey from government intelligence analyst to intelligent government critic, spending the last decade as a writer and activist for political causes, particularly that of Palestinian rights.  

Bill and Kathleen both were among the founding members of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).

The class extends its sympathy to Kathleen; their daughters, Lynda and Judith; son Eric; and the grandchildren.