Before Senior Intelligence Service Officer Rickey Jasper retired from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with the distinction of being the highest-ranking African American to serve, he was a student in Parkdale, Arkansas, who believed his only option after high school was the military.
A grandson of sharecroppers, Jasper began working in the cotton fields alongside his family when he was nine years old. He experienced integration firsthand and graduated from Parkdale High School as valedictorian of the largest class the school had seen. It was at Parkdale High School that a Southern Arkansas University recruiter encouraged Jasper to attend college, planting a seed that college was possible.
“The school was the right size,” said Jasper. “Not too big to get lost, but not so small that you couldn’t meet people and get different perspectives and cultures.”
During his time at SAU, Jasper was on the debate team, served as treasurer for the Student Government Association, was a member of the Black Student Association, participated as student representative on the University’s Scholarship Committee, and worked as a Resident Assistant. Significantly, Jasper accepted his calling to the ministry during his freshman year and began preaching at local churches and leading Bible studies on campus. “SAU provided me the opportunity to walk the talk–to integrate my spiritual journey into my campus life,” Jasper shared.
Jasper graduated from SAU in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science with a minor in Accounting. He credits professors like Dr. Willis and Professor Noland for their belief and investment in his future, as well as the kind librarian, Mrs. Irene Brannon, who allocated him a quiet study space in the basement – an area he fondly referred to as his “office.”
Jasper went on to earn a Master of Business Administration in Management from Louisiana Tech University and a Master of Science in Accounting from Strayer University. Jasper’s academic pursuits did not end there. He continued studying at the University of Virginia, George Mason University, the University of Southern California, the University of Maryland, and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Additionally, he completed postgraduate studies in theology at the Singapore Bible College and the John Leland Center for Theological Studies, where he serves as a member of the Institute for Justice Foundation.
Following his tenure at Louisiana Tech University and employment with IBM in Dallas, TX, Jasper embarked on a career with the CIA in 1987, serving domestically and abroad across Latin America, Europe, and East Asia. Jasper ascended to the highest ranks within the CIA, serving as the special assistant to CIA Directors Porter J. Goss and Michael V. Hayden (the final director under President George W. Bush) and as agency executive secretary under Michael V. Hayden and the beginning of Leon Panetta’s tenure under President Barack Obama.
Notably, he served in Berlin, Germany, for three years following the fall of the Berlin Wall, and in Singapore for three years during the turn of the century and the aftermath of 9/11. Alongside his distinguished career in intelligence, Jasper is a licensed and ordained minister, serving in various church capacities domestically and internationally. His pastoral roles include serving as pastor of the Protestant Faith Fellowship in Berlin, Germany; serving as pastor of Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Lincoln, VA; and as assistant pastor of Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Leesburg, VA.
In recognition of his achievements, Jasper was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame in October 2014. He is prominently featured in Seed of Genius: Twenty-Five Years of the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame and is currently revising his 2020 book Walking in the Gray: How to Succeed When the Rules Are Not Black and White.
Jasper resides in Prosper, Texas, with his wife, Sheila Denise Jasper (’84), and has been happily married for over 38 years. They are the proud parents of two sons, Rickey Lane Jasper II and Desmond Tyler Jasper, and are soon-to-be grandparents.
