Meredith Woodruff

2024 Distinguished Alumni

B.A. English '70

OSU English graduate Meredith Woodruff earned her degree in 1970 and went a route few do: serving in the Central Intelligence Agency’s Directorate of Operations. Meredith lived and worked for more than 25 years in Central Eurasia, the Near East, Africa and Europe.

 

Meredith holds the CIA’s most prestigious awards, which include the Donovan Award for Operational Excellence and the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal. She retired from the CIA as its most senior female officer in operations.

 

Upon retirement, Meredith served as vice president of Ntrepid, a large risk mitigation technology company. She also founded COPIA, an international executive coaching and management consulting company headquartered — and still going strong! — in Washington, D.C.

 

A Stillwater native, Meredith returned home in 2014 where she continues to work as an international coach. She is also a partner in Spycraft Entertainment, which are Hollywood executive producers working to portray intelligence officers and operations more realistically.

 

Meredith is a popular public speaker who has addressed audiences across the nation on current international events and various aspects of the world of espionage.

 

Since her return to Stillwater, Meredith has supported OSU by serving on OSU Global’s Board of Ambassadors and teaching for seven years with OSU’s Osher Life-Long Learning Institute (OLLI). And in 2023, she was proudly inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.