Ambassador Victoria Nuland

Former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs for Political Affairs

Ambassador Victoria Nuland is the Shelby Cullom Davis Professor in the Practice of International Diplomacy and Director of the International Fellows Program at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA).  She is also affiliated with SIPA’s Institute for Global Politics. She previously served on the NED Board of Directors from 2018 to 2021.

A U.S. diplomat for 35 years, Nuland 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 Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs 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.

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.