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• Coit D. Blacker

Coit D. Blacker

Coit Blacker is the director of SIIS; the Olivier Nomellini Family University Fellow in Undergraduate Education; an SIIS senior fellow; and a professor of political science, by courtesy.

During the first Clinton administration, Professor Blacker served as special assistant to the president for National Security Affairs and Senior Director for Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian Affairs at the National Security Council (NSC). At the NSC, he oversaw the implementation of U.S. policy toward Russia and the New Independent States, while also serving as principal staff assistant to the president and the National Security Advisor on matters relating to the former Soviet Union.

From 1998 to 2003, he served as co-director of the Aspen Institute’s U.S.-Russia Dialogue, which twice each year brings together prominent U.S. and Russian specialists on foreign and defense policy for discussion and review of critical issues in U.S.-Russian relations. He was a study group member of the U.S. Commission on National Security in the 21st Century (The Hart-Rudman Commission) throughout the Commission’s tenure.

A member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, he also serves on the Board of Directors of the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) in Washington, DC. Currently, he is also co-chair, with Professor Elisabeth Paté-Cornell, of the Faculty Steering Committee of the International Initiative.

He has held fellowships at Harvard University, Stanford University and the Council on Foreign Relations. In 1993 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Russian Academy of Sciences for his work on U.S.-Russian relations. He is a graduate of Occidental College (AB, Political Science) and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (MA, MALD, PhD).