International Forum for Democratic Studies Research Council Member

Jeffrey Gedmin

Georgetown University

Jeffrey Gedmin is senior fellow at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, senior advisor at Blue Star Strategies, and co-director of the Transatlantic Renewal Project. From 2011–2014, Mr. Gedmin was president and CEO of the Legatum Institute. Mr. Gedmin served from 2007 to 2011 as president and CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, where he oversaw the company’s strategy, $100 million budget and broadcast operations in 23 countries. Before that he served for five years as director of the Aspen Institute–Berlin. Before Aspen, he was a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) in Washington, D.C and executive director of the New Atlantic Initiative.

Mr. Gedmin is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post. His articles on foreign policy, media, culture and economics, and public diplomacy have otherwise appeared in a range of newspapers and magazines. He is author of the book The Hidden Hand: Gorbachev and the Collapse of East Germany and editor of a collection of essays titled European Integration and the American Interest. He was also executive editor and producer of the award-winning PBS television program, “The Germans: Portrait of a New Nation,” and co-executive producer of the PBS documentary “Spain’s 9/11 and the Challenge of Radical Islam in Europe.”

In 2009, the Czech government awarded Gedmin the Golden Linden Medal. The award, in recognition of contributions to democracy, human rights and liberty, is the highest honor bestowed upon Czech and foreign civilians by the Czech Ministry of Defense. In 2010, Mr. Gedmin was awarded an honorary Doctorate by the Tbilisi State University, Georgia.

Mr. Gedmin has taught at Gonzaga College High School and Georgetown University, where he holds a Ph.D. in German. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and also serves on the board of the Masters Programme of Georgetown University’s Foreign Service School.

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