Paul Francis Gaynor (June 27, 1914 – May 13, 1975) was an American military officer and Central Intelligence Agency operative.

On February 22, 1951, Gaynor was appointed Chief of Research Staff at the CIA's Office of Security, a position which he initially served until May 1957.

[9][10] Gaynor's "fag file" was eventually uncovered by one State Department employee, John C. Montgomery, who allegedly committed suicide as a result.

[9] In 1951, Gaynor was selected by CIA Director Walter Bedell Smith to oversee the agency's new interrogation program, Project ARTICHOKE.

Gaynor was chosen in part due to his experience as an interrogation officer during the war, as well as the CIA's desire to collaborate with the Armed Forces for the project.

Gaynor also proposed the establishment of fake left-wing organizations run by the CIA to intercept "undesirable aliens" to be used as subjects for MKUltra, and approved of a plan to recruit over 4,000 military personnel serving court-martial sentences in federal prisons to be experimented on.