He was Senior Research Fellow in National Security Affairs at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University.
The primary objective of the program was to provide graduate level education and training for students planning careers in national and international security affairs, policy-making, and teaching at the university-level.
The program moved to Southwest Missouri State University (now MSU) in 1987 where DSS became a Department offering specialized Master of Science degree.
Van Cleave's past professional experience included being a member of the U.S. Delegation to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks with the USSR, Chairman-Designate of General Advisory Committee on Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, Special Assistant for Strategic Policy and Planning in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, member of the Team B effort to review national intelligence on the USSR and to produce a competitive National Intelligence Estimate.
[4] Professor Van Cleave has approximately 200 professional publications, and has received numerous awards for his outstanding work as a teacher and faculty member.