# The University of Salamanca professorship

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "The University of Salamanca professorship," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-university-of-salamanca-professorship/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*John Kiriakou's teaching post in the graduate intelligence studies programme at the University of Salamanca, where he lectures on introductory intelligence studies and the history of terrorism, at an institution he describes as older than Spain itself.*

- **Institution:** University of Salamanca, Spain
- **Programme:** Graduate programme in intelligence studies
- **Courses:** Introduction to intelligence studies; history of terrorism
- **Founded (per Kiriakou):** 1207, continuously operating since

The University of Salamanca professorship is John Kiriakou's academic post in Spain, and the institutional tie from which his later consulting venture grew.

## The institution

Kiriakou calls the University of Salamanca one of the most special educational institutions in the world, and notes that it is older than Spain itself: founded, in his account, in 1207 and continuously operating ever since.[1] He describes it simply as a magnificent university.[1]

## The post

Kiriakou says he has a couple of ties to the university. He is a professor there in the graduate programme of intelligence studies, where he teaches an introduction to intelligence studies course as well as a course on the history of terrorism.[2]

The second tie is personal: he and the dean of that programme are good friends, and it was that friendship that led the two of them to establish the political risk consultancy described in [GeoRisk Solutions](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/geo-risk-solutions).[2][3]

The posting places Kiriakou's teaching alongside his other work in Spain; he has separately described being in Salamanca with the American privacy researcher Sean O'Brien on the travels the two publicised through their newsletter.[4][1]

## A generation born after 9/11

Kiriakou uses the Salamanca classroom as his measure of how far the events of his career have receded. Mentioning [Carlos the Jackal](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/carlos-the-jackal) in a 2026 conversation, he noted that *"none of those kids have ever heard of Carlos the Jackal. None of those kids really even could pick out [Osama bin Laden](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/osama-bin-laden) in a picture"*, because *"they're all born after 9/11."* His own sense of the distance runs the other way: *"in my mind, 9/11 was, you know, 2 weeks ago."*[5]

## See also

- [Geo Risk Solutions](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/geo-risk-solutions)
- [Kiriakou's Greek citizenship](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kiriakou-greek-citizenship)
- [The scholar-in-residence pipeline](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia-recruitment-through-academia)

## Sources

1. Ask Ex-CIA Agent and Whistleblower John Kiriakou Anything (2025-10-16), at 20:32. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auddbc2c676&t=1232s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-16-seymizzle-podcast-ask-ex-cia-agent-and-whistleblower-john-kiria/
2. Ask Ex-CIA Agent and Whistleblower John Kiriakou Anything (2025-10-16), at 21:03. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auddbc2c676&t=1263s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-16-seymizzle-podcast-ask-ex-cia-agent-and-whistleblower-john-kiria/
3. Ask Ex-CIA Agent and Whistleblower John Kiriakou Anything (2025-10-16), at 21:37. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auddbc2c676&t=1297s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-16-seymizzle-podcast-ask-ex-cia-agent-and-whistleblower-john-kiria/
4. Ask Ex-CIA Agent and Whistleblower John Kiriakou Anything (2025-10-16), at 19:57. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auddbc2c676&t=1197s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-16-seymizzle-podcast-ask-ex-cia-agent-and-whistleblower-john-kiria/
5. A conversation with John Kiriakou (2026-07-28), at 11:13. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cVnFagpXow&t=673s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-28-dissidentklubben-a-conversation-with-john-kiriakou/

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