Victoria Nuland

Focus Areas: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Practice of Diplomacy

Ambassador Victoria Nuland is Shelby Cullom Davis Professor in the Practice of International Diplomacy and Director of the International Fellows Program at SIPA.  She is also affiliated with SIPA’s Institute for Global Politics and Member of the Board of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). 

A U.S. diplomat for 35 years, she served six U.S. Presidents and 10 Secretaries of State of both political parties and holds the rank of Career Ambassador.  She was Acting Deputy Secretary of State from July 2023 until March 2024, and served concurrently as Under Secretary for Political Affairs.  Her tenure as U/S for Political Affairs began in April 2021. 

Prior to that, Nuland was Senior Counselor at the Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategic advisory and commercial diplomacy firm based in Washington, DC.  She was also a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Distinguished Practitioner in Grand Strategy at Yale University, and a NED board member.

A career member of the U.S. Foreign Service, Nuland served as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs from September 2013 until January 2017 under President Obama and Secretary Kerry.  She was State Department Spokesperson during Secretary Hillary Clinton’s tenure, and U.S. Ambassador to NATO during President George W. Bush’s second term, 2005-2008.  Nuland served as Special Envoy and chief negotiator on the Treaty on Conventional Arms Control in Europe from 2010-2011, and as Deputy National Security Advisor to Vice President Cheney from 2003-2005.  In addition to two tours at NATO in Brussels, she has served overseas in Russia, China and Mongolia, and in various assignments at the State Department in Washington. Nuland has a B.A. in history from Brown University.

Education

• BA in History and International Relations, Brown University

Honors & Awards

• Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award
• Secretary of Defense's Distinguished Public Service Award
• Secretary of Defense's Distinguished Civilian Service Award
• Numerous Department of State Superior and Meritorious service awards
• National decorations from the governments of Germany, Italy, Belgium, Albania and Lithuania.