Dr. Kathleen Hicks named CSIS Senior Vice President, Kissinger Chair and International Security Program Director

WASHINGTON, August 27, 2013--The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has named Dr. Kathleen Hicks as the Henry A. Kissinger Chair, Director of the International Security Program, and a CSIS Senior Vice President. Dr. Hicks joins CSIS from the Department of Defense, where she served as Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy since 2012. Dr. Hicks will assume her new position at CSIS on October 1st.

As Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Dr. Hicks was responsible for advising the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and the Secretary of Defense on all matters pertaining to the development and execution of U.S. national defense policy and strategy.  Prior to this, she served as the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Forces from February, 2009 to May 2012.  In that position, she led the development of the 2012 Defense Strategic Guidance and the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review and oversaw the strategic guidance development, review, and assessment for military contingency plans and the plans for the day-to-day military activities of Combatant Commanders.
 
Prior to her service at the Department of Defense, Dr. Hicks was a Senior Fellow at CSIS where she directed projects related to the future of U.S. defense policy as well as civil affairs forces. In addition, she co-directed the CSIS Task Force on Nontraditional Security Assistance, led strategy, planning, and process assessments for the Project on National Security Reform, and assessed the national security community’s role in improving global health.
 
From 1993 to August 2006, Dr. Hicks held a variety of career civil service positions within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, beginning as a Presidential Management Intern and rising to the Senior Executive Service. She participated in the 1997 and 2005 Quadrennial Defense Reviews and authored follow-on planning guidance to implement the 1993 Bottom-Up Review and 2001 Quadrennial Defense Review. As Director for Policy Planning, she was a lead developer of U.S. defense strategy and worked to improve long-range policy planning capability within the Department of Defense. In addition, as the Director for Homeland Defense Strategic Planning and Program Integration, she contributed extensively to DoD’s first-ever Strategy for Homeland Defense and Civil Support.
 
“We are delighted to welcome Kathleen back to CSIS after serving in such an instrumental policy role at the Department of Defense,” said John J. Hamre, President, CEO and Pritzker Chair at CSIS. “She is one of the country’s leading intellects concerning defense policy.  Her presence at CSIS will allow her to continue to work on some of the most pressing and complex matters of international security.”
 
 Dr. Hicks holds a PhD in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master’s degree from the University of Maryland’s School of Public Affairs and an A.B. magna cum laude from Mount Holyoke College.

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The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a bipartisan, non-profit organization founded in 1962 and headquartered in Washington, D.C.  It seeks to advance global security and prosperity by providing strategic insights and policy solutions to decision makers.