He serves as a member of the DCI's Senior Intelligence Service,

Dr. McDonald came to the NRO from the National War College (NWC), where he was the Representative of the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) to the National War College and served as a Professor of National Security Policy & Psychology. At the War College he taught core courses on the national security policy process and geostrategic issues. He also has been a member of the adjunct faculty at the Joint Military Intelligence College.

Prior to his appointment at the War College, Dr. McDonald was assigned to the DCI's Systems Integration Office (SIO) where he directed the Mission Operations Group that conducted operations in support of SIO's Presidentially-mandated mission. Dr. McDonald joined the Central Intelligence Agency through the Intelligence Community Staff where he served as the Executive Secretary of the DCI Committee on Imagery Requirements and Exploitation (COMIREX), as well as Chief of the COMIREX Policy & Support Staff. Earlier, Dr. McDonald was with the Department of the Army where he represented the Army's views on the COMIREX Prior to that he served four years on active military duty as an Air Intelligence Officer.

A native of Great Neck, New York, Dr. McDonald graduated from Great Neck High School on Long Island. He received his B.A. and M.A. in the field of political science from New York University. His Ph.D. in developmental psychology is from the University of Maryland. He also was awarded a M.S. from the National War College and is a graduate of the State Department's Foreign Service Institute Senior Seminar. Dr. McDonald is the editor and a contributor to the 1997 book, Corona between the Sun and the Earth: The First NRO Reconnaissance Eye in Space.