The Honorable John Hillen, DPhil, is the James C. Wheat Professor in Leadership at Hampden-Sydney College’s Wilson Center for Leadership in The Public Interest. A Trustee of the Foreign Policy Research Institute since 2008, the Treasurer of its Board of Trustees from 2010 – 1019, he is a former director of the National Security Program at FPRI. A decorated combat veteran, he served as Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs in the second half of the George W. Bush Administration. He is the author of several books and numerous articles on foreign affairs and international security. An experienced public and private company CEO, he has led technology services firms in New York City and the Washington DC area and was for a number of years the Executive in Residence and Professor of Practice in the School of Business at George Mason University. He is the co-author of What Happens Now? Reinvent Yourself As A Leader Before Your Business Outruns You (2018) and author of The Strategy Dialogues (2025). In 2020 Hillen was inducted into the Army ROTC Hall of Fame. He graduated from Duke University, holds an MA in War Studies from King’s College London, a doctorate from Oxford, and received his MBA from Cornell University.
