The Hon. Paula J. Dobriansky, Ph.D.
The Honorable Dr. Paula Dobriansky is a Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and has had a distinguished career as a diplomat and policymaker in many Senate confirmed government appointments. She has served as Associate Director of Policy and Programs at the US Information Agency, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, Deputy Head of the U.S. Delegation to the 1990 Copenhagen Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Adviser to the U.S. Delegation to the 1985 UN Decade for Women Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, and Director of European and Soviet Affairs at the National Security Council. She was Senior Vice President of the Council of Foreign Relations, and was their first George F. Kennan Senior Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies. From 2001 to 2009, Dobriansky served as Undersecretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs where she helped establish and lead the U.S.-India, U.S.-China, and U.S.-Brazil Global Issues Fora. In 2007, she served as the President’s Special Envoy to Northern Ireland, with the rank of Ambassador. She was also Senior Vice President and Global Head of Government and Regulatory Affairs at Thomson Reuters from 2010 to 2012. Dobriansky is Vice Chair of the U.S. Water Partnership and has served on the boards of numerous organizations, including Freedom House, the American University in Afghanistan, and the American Academy of Diplomacy. For her leadership and achievements, she received the Secretary of State’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal. She is also a Fulbright-Hays Scholar, Ford and Rotary Foundation Fellow, and a recipient of various foreign honors. She earned her B.A. in international politics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service summa cum laude and her M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University in Soviet political-military affairs. Her father, the Honorable Lev Dobriansky, was a founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.
