Christopher Mellon

Christopher K. 'Chris' Mellon (born October 2, 1957), was the former United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and later for Security and Information Operations. He is also a writer and businessman. He is a member of the Mellon Family, and the son of Karl N. Mellon, the great-grandson of Gulf Oil co-founder William Larimer Mellon.

Christopher Mellon is a descendant of Thomas Mellon, founder of Mellon Bank. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from Colby College in 1980. He earned his master's degree from Yale University in International Relations, with a concentration in finance and management in 1984.

Mellon served for 12 years in a variety of positions on Capitol Hill, including nearly 10 years as a professional staff member as a Staff Director of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence from November 1999 until Jan 2002. From June 1998 through November 1999, Mr. Mellon served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Security and Information Operations. In that capacity, he was responsible for policy and programmatic oversight of information assurance, critical infrastructure protection, security, counterintelligence, and information operations strategy and integration. Mellon went to the Pentagon as a member of Secretary Cohen's transition team on January 2, 1997. Following the transition, Mellon was appointed as the Coordinator for Advanced Concepts and Program Integration, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, concentrating on encryption and information assurance issues. From November 1997 to June 1998, he served as the Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Policy, providing advice on a range of intelligence issues. Before entering the private sector, Mellon returned to Capitol Hill where he served as the Minority Staff Director of the Senate Intelligence Committee for Senator John D. Rockefeller, IV from 2002-2004.

Mr. Mellon is presently a private equity investor.