The Unexpected Spy

As an undergraduate majoring in history at USC Dornsife, Tracy Walder had planned to become a teacher. Until the CIA recruited her. Not long after graduating, the former sorority sister known for dressing in pink was wearing camouflage fatigues, toting an assault rifle and hunting down Al-Qaeda as a counterterrorism field agent in the aftermath of 9/11. Returning to the U.S., she made the almost-unheard-of-transition to the FBI, where she continued to take down bad guys out of the L.A. field office. Walder sat down with USC Dornsife historian Peter Mancall, divisional dean for the humanities, to discuss her larger-than-life career as a spook — and why she left that life behind to return to her first love: teaching history. Dornsife Dialogues Join us for stimulating online forums in which leading scholars and distinguished alumni from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences share new perspectives, research-based findings and fresh insight on timely topics. The free events are open to the entire USC community and general public. https://dornsife.usc.edu/dornsifedialogues/