Dear Friends of ISD,
As another academic year gets underway at Georgetown, I’m pleased to welcome an exceptionally talented group of ISD Fellows, who have come to ISD to teach, research, and write on critical issues of diplomacy. Since the ISD’s early years, career diplomats, military strategists, other practitioners, and scholars have joined the Institute each year to explore global challenges and the evolving demands of diplomatic statecraft. They are our bridge between academic theory and the practice of diplomacy.
Our 2017-2018 Fellows come from the senior and mid-career ranks of the State Department, US Army, and US Air Force, as well as the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and have worked in every corner of the globe. ISD Fellows take an active and dynamic role as career mentors, and help supervise research undertaken by students pursuing the ISD Certificate in Diplomatic Studies. Fellows also serve as a resource for the broader SFS and Georgetown academic community, and organize workshops and seminars throughout the year to bring new ideas and fresh voices to campus. Scroll down to meet our new Fellows, and keep an eye out for event announcements on the ISD website!
Best regards,
Barbara K. Bodine
Linda Thomas-Greenfield
US State Department Senior Fellow
Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a member of the Career Foreign Service, joined ISD in spring 2017. From 2013 to 2017, she served as the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs. In this capacity, she led the bureau in the Department of State focused on the development and management of US policy toward sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to this appointment, she served as Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources (2012-2013), directing the State Department’s personnel functions for its 70,000-strong workforce. Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield’s 34-year Foreign Service career includes an ambassadorship to Liberia (2008-2012) and postings in Switzerland (at the US Mission to the United Nations), Pakistan, Kenya, The Gambia, Nigeria, and Jamaica.
Stephen D. Mull
US State Department Senior Fellow
Ambassador Stephen D. Mull is a Career Ambassador in the Foreign Service. From 2015-2017, he served as Lead Coordinator for Iran Nuclear Implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to constrain Iran’s nuclear program. He previously served as the US Ambassador to Poland (2012 to 2015), Executive Secretary of the State Department (2010 to 2012), and Senior Advisor to Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns (2008 to 2010). He also served as US Ambassador to Lithuania, and held other posts in Indonesia, South Africa, and in Washington, DC. A 1980 SFS graduate, he joined the Foreign Service in 1982.
John A. Heffern
US State Department Senior Fellow
Ambassador John A. Heffern, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, joins ISD after serving as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs from August 2015 to August 2017. He served as US Ambassador to Armenia from 2011-2014. His previous posts include Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) at USNATO, Brussels; DCM in Jakarta; Executive Assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs; Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Abidjan, Guangzhou, and Washington. From 1994-1996, Heffern served as a Pearson Fellow on the Asia Subcommittee for the House International Relations Committee. Prior to entering the Foreign Service, Heffern served in the office of Senator John C. Danforth (R-MO). Heffern is a native of St. Louis, Missouri, and received a B.A. from Michigan State University.
Dana Smith
Senior Non-resident Fellow
Ambassador Dana Shell Smith served as US Ambassador to Qatar from 2014-2017. Previously, she served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs from 2011 to 2014, and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Media. Prior to her assignments in the Bureau of Public Affairs, Ambassador Smith was the State Department’s Regional Arabic Language Spokesperson in Dubai. She served in a number of positions including as Senior Advisor to the Director General and overseas tours of duty in Taipei, Amman, Tel Aviv/Gaza, and Cairo. Ambassador Smith is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. She is a graduate of the University of California at San Diego.
Arsalan Suleman
Non-resident Fellow
Arsalan Suleman is the former Acting US Special Envoy to the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the second-largest intergovernmental organization after the United Nations. In that role he engaged with the OIC, OIC member countries, and relevant civil society on a broad range of foreign policy issues, establishing partnerships on human rights, countering violent extremism, health, education, entrepreneurship, and science and technology. At the State Department Suleman also served as Counselor for Multilateral Affairs in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Suleman graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service as an International Security Studies major with a certificate in Muslim-Christian Understanding. He earned a masters’ degree in International Peace Studies from Trinity College, Dublin, where he was a George Mitchell Scholar, and holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Sungsoo Choi
Affiliate Research Scholar, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea
Mr. Choi will continue his research at ISD this fall. He graduated from Seoul National University in 1991 and studied international economics from 1994 to 1996 at the University of Michigan, where he received his MA degree. Since joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1991, he has worked at the Korean Embassies in Wellington, Tehran, and Kiev, and the Permanent Mission to the UN in New York and the Permanent Delegation to OECD in Paris. In Seoul, he worked on inter-Korean policy, Middle East and African affairs, international economic cooperation and development cooperation.
Megan Selmon Kelly
Dean and Virginia Rusk Fellow, US State Department
Megan Selmon Kelly, a career Foreign Service Officer with the Department of State, most recently covered operations policy at the US Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Brussels, Belgium. Prior to that assignment, she served in Pakistan, Colombia, Afghanistan, another tour at NATO, and as a Special Assistant to Secretary of State John Kerry. Mrs. Kelly is also a board member of a small non-profit focused on development in Liberia called the Shine Foundation, and spends as much time as possible working in Liberia. Mrs. Kelly is a graduate of Trinity University with a B.A. in international relations, and a Master of Public Affairs from Princeton University. She is a native of Norman, Oklahoma.
Amy Lillis
Dean and Virginia Rusk Fellow, US State Department
Amy Lillis joins ISD from the Secretary’s Office of Religion and Global Affairs, where she served as the Acting Special Representative, responsible for developing programs, networks, and training to expand the State Department capacity to understand religious dynamics and engage religious actors for a more effective foreign policy. Some of Amy’s other Foreign Service assignments include Islamabad, where she served as the Internal Politics Chief, responsible for the embassy’s work on judicial reform, party politics, and human rights; Political Military Affairs Officer in the Office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan; Political Officer in Istanbul Policy Advisor in the Office of International Religious Freedom; and Consular Officer in Lagos.
Lieutenant Colonel Sergio E. Anaya
US Air Force Fellow
Lieutenant Colonel Sergio E. Anaya was the Commander of Air Mobility Command’s Air Operations Squadron, where he led 300 military and civilian personnel. Previously, Lieutenant Colonel Anaya was a Special Assistant to the Combatant Commander, US Southern Command, Miami, FL. In this capacity, he was responsible for developing and articulating initiatives of interest to the Combatant Commander and supported the commander’s interactions with the Department of Defense, Congress, US Interagency, foreign governments, and the private sector. He is a senior pilot with more than 3,800 hours in the C-17, C-21A, T-1, and T-37 and has logged more than 930 combat hours. He attended the Chilean Air Command and Staff College in Santiago, Chile and is an Air Force Latin America Regional Affairs Specialist (RAS).
Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Bishop
US Army War College Fellow
Lieutenant Colonel Dan Bishop comes to ISD from the NATO Special Operations Component Command-Afghanistan, where he served as the Deputy Director of Intelligence in Bagram, Afghanistan over the course of the last year. Previous to this assignment, he commanded the 308th Military Intelligence Battalion at Fort Meade, MD. LTC Bishop has served in various command and staff positions across the United States, Germany, and numerous deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Lieutenant Colonel Markus Lewis
US Army War College Fellow
Lieutenant Colonel Markus Lewis is an Army Strategist specializing in the development and implementation of national strategic plans and policies, theater strategy, and operational planning. As an Army Strategist, he has served under US Army Central as a Strategic Plans Officer and a Senior Strategist in the Office of the Chief, Army Reserve. Markus joins ISD from the Joint Staff, where he served as a Joint Doctrine Strategic Planner developing policy options for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on issues regarding joint doctrine.
Major Peter J. Amaral III
US Air Force Fellow
Major Peter J. Amaral III is the Chief of Group Plans and Programs, 595th Command and Control Group, Offutt Air Force Base, NE. He is responsible for the development and maintenance of worldwide current and strategic operations employment of the E-4B as well as coordinating inter-agency actions for deployment support requirements with foreign agencies, US embassies, and other Air Force major commands. Major Amaral received his commission in May 2005 through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps, graduating from Arizona State University. Prior to his current position, he was the Executive Officer to 55th Wing Commander, 55th Wing, Offutt AFB, NE. Major Amaral has deployed to USCENTCOM supporting Operation Enduring Freedom, USSOUTHCOM supporting Joint Interagency Task Force-South, and numerous worldwide exercises.
Major Devin Long
US Air Force Non-Resident Fellow
Prior to the start of his Air Force Fellowship, Major Devin Long was Treaty Director, Open Skies Treaty, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, at the Pentagon. Previously, he was Chief of the Treaty Verification Branch, Source Mission Integration Office, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, in Springfield, VA. He has a broad background in arms control and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations. Major Long is a senior combat systems officer with over 1,300 hours in the RC-135S. He holds an undergraduate degree in music education and a graduate degree in global security and intelligence studies. He is an in-residence graduate of Air and Space Basic Course and Squadron Officer School as well as Air Command and Staff College, via distributed learning.
Major William R. McCormick
US Air Force Non-Resident Fellow
Major William R. McCormick is an Assistant Director of Operations and E-3 AWACS Evaluator Senior Director assigned to the 552nd Operations Support Squadron, 552nd Operations Group, 552nd Air Control Wing, Tinker Air Force Base, OK. He is responsible for the daily supervision of 364 military and 14 civilian personnel and the programming, planning, scheduling and execution of the 10,000 hour flying program of 27 USAF E-3 aircraft. Additionally, he manages the aircrew training programs for 5 flying and one training squadron, and is responsible for the security of 3 vaults, 1,073 weapons and all contracts for the E-3 weapons system. Major McCormick is a 2002 graduate of Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and earned his commission from Officer Training School in July 2006. Major McCormick has flown combat operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Additionally, he has served as an Executive Officer for the 552nd Air Control Wing and as a Flight Commander for the 621st Air Control Squadron.
Major Christine McVann
US Air Force Non-Resident Fellow
Major Christine M. McVann is currently the Chief of Wing Intelligence for the 89th Airlift Wing, 89th Operations Support Squadron, Joint Base Andrews, MD. In this role, she leads 13 personnel in Air Mobility Command’s highest-profile intelligence flight, providing intelligence support as well as Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape training to ten operational flying units tasked with transporting America’s senior leaders, including the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. A graduate of the University of California, San Diego, Major McVann served in multiple theaters and in support of numerous military operations including Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, and Odyssey Dawn. She was certified as a Regional Affairs Strategist in June 2014 at the Naval Postgraduate School and in 2013 received an Associate of Arts degree in Arabic from the Defense Language Institute.