Kiron Skinner

Kiron K. Skinner is the Taube Professor of International Relations and Politics at Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy. She is the W. Glenn Campbell Research Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and a Visiting Fellow and Senior Advisor to the President at the Heritage Foundation. Previously, she was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, where she founded an academic department and several research centers and institutes. Professor Skinner has published extensively on American politics and international relations. Two of her co-edited books on President Ronald Reagan were New York Times bestsellers, and one received the Hoover Institution’s Uncommon Book Award. In addition to serving on the editorial board of the Texas National Security Review, she is a board member of Telos, a leading humanities journal. Since the 9/11 attacks, Professor Skinner has been a member of numerous Defense Department and White House advisory committees. In 2016, Professor Skinner received a meritorious service award from the Chief of Naval Operations. During the Trump administration, she served as the Director of the Office of Policy Planning at the U.S. Department of State and a Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State as well as a member of the Department of Defense’s Defense Policy Board and the Defense Business Board.