Kinzer describes Gottlieb as "a chemist with a deep-seated interest in mysticism" and "the first person the United States government ever hired to find ways to control human minds".[citation needed] Gottlieb, who was born into an Orthodox Jewish family, played a vital role in establishing the agency in the 1950s and 1960s. Gottlieb was supported by Allen Dulles, the director of central intelligence, who "believed deeply in mind-control experiments".[1]