Ambassador Victoria Nuland Will Join SIPA Faculty

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Ambassador Victoria Nuland, a US diplomat for more than three decades who served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs for the last three years, and as Acting Deputy Secretary of State from July 2023 to February 2024, will join SIPA as the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Professor in the Practice of International Diplomacy effective July 1.

Nuland will also direct SIPA’s International Fellows Program, which provides an interdisciplinary forum for Columbia University graduate students to study international problems. Lastly, she will be a member of the Institute of Global Politics’ affiliated faculty, which comprises selected scholars and practitioners who work on research projects to advance IGP’s mission.

As Under Secretary, Nuland managed overall regional and bilateral policy issues and oversaw the department’s multiple geographic bureaus, which, among other responsibilities, guide US diplomatic missions around the world.

Before she became Under Secretary in April 2021, Nuland was a Senior Counselor at the Albright Stonebridge Group, a private consulting firm. She also held positions at the Brookings Institution, Yale University, and the National Endowment for Democracy.

“I’m incredibly honored to welcome Ambassador Victoria Nuland to our faculty,” said Dean Keren Yarhi-Milo. “Her diverse, hard-won expertise that reflects experiences in Washington and abroad will enhance her contributions as an instructor in our classrooms and a leader in our policy work. As a veteran of both Democratic and Republican administrations, Toria has demonstrated an ability to transcend partisan divisions that makes her a model for our students, given our too-often divided society. I speak on behalf of the entire SIPA community when I say we’re just thrilled to have her.”

Nuland, whose departure from the State Department was announced March 5 by Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, previously served during the Obama administration as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian affairs (September 2013–January 2017) and as Spokesperson (May 2011–April 2013). In the latter position she worked directly for then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who today chairs the IGP Faculty Advisory Board at SIPA.

Nuland also served as US ambassador to NATO under President George W. Bush from June 2005 to May 2008.

A speaker of Russian and French, Nuland earned a BA from Brown University.