Linda D. Taylor, 63, died Wednesday, February 23, 2011, at her home in Great Falls, Virginia.
A native of Maryland, she was born on July 5, 1947 to the late Norman Wilson Smith and Margaret Evelyn Stone Smith. An alumna of the University of Maryland, she earned her B.S. in Technology Management from that institution.
Mrs. Taylor was an intelligence professional who began her career at the National Security Agency. She served in a series of operations, planning, legislative liaison, and program management assignments over 30 years. Latter assignments were highlighted by management roles in technology transfer/export control, advanced reconnaissance systems, and target development in the digital network.
In 1996, upon joining the professional staff of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, her responsibilities included the oversight of the programs and budgets of the National Security Agency and the National Reconnaissance Office.
Retiring from government service in 2002, she became a part of Raytheon Corporation's Corporate Business Development Staff, where her focus was in the areas of Intelligence and Homeland Security Programs. Subsequent to departing her position at Raytheon in 2006, she formed a consulting practice, TUMBLEWEED Enterprises, LLC.
Mrs. Taylor was also a past member of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association Intelligence Committee.
Her survivors include her husband, James Richard Taylor of Great Falls, Virginia; her two stepsons, James Brian Taylor of Annapolis, Maryland, and Robert Christopher Taylor of Louisville, Colorado; her father-in-law, Robert W. Taylor, and her mother-in-law, Eleanor Taylor, both of Shelbyville, Kentucky; and her sister-in-law, Dr. Susan Taylor of Nashville, Tennessee.
