James K. Glassman

Ambassador (ret.) James K. Glassman, Chair of Commission, United States

James K. Glassman served as US Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs during the George W. Bush administration, leading the government-wide global strategic communications effort. He was also Chairman of the US Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees Voice of America and other government-sponsored TV, radio, and Internet broadcasting. He was confirmed unanimously by the US Senate for both positions and holds the lifetime rank of Ambassador.

From 2009 to 2013, he served as the Founding Executive Director of the George W. Bush Institute, the policy arm of the Bush Presidential Center in Dallas. At the Institute, Ambassador Glassman launched Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon, a program to fight cervical cancer in Africa. He has been involved in global efforts to end HIV/AIDS for the past 20 years.

He was a Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute from 1996 to 2016, specializing in economic and technology policy, and recently ended a three-year term as a member of the Investor Advisory Committee of the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ambassador Glassman is currently Chairman and CEO of Glassman Enterprises, LLC, a strategy advisory firm whose past and current clients include several Fortune 100 companies, mainly in the field of health care, as well as nonprofit organizations. Previously, he was an advisor to Intel, AT&T, and Sprint.

In September 2020, he was named Chairman of the International Commission to Reignite the Fight to End Smoking, which will produce a report in the fall of 2021 on reinvigorating the cessation effort.

Ambassador Glassman has had a long career in media. He was the host of three weekly public-affairs programs, Editor-in-Chief and co-owner of Roll Call, the congressional newspaper, and publisher of The Atlantic and The New Republic. For 11 years, he was an investment and op-ed columnist for The Washington Post. 

Over the past 15 years, he has written more than 2,000 articles—on economics, finance, technology, and foreign policy—for such publications as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and the Los Angeles Times. He is the author of three books on investing and has spoken at such forums as the National Press Club, the Detroit Economic Club, and Chatham House (London). 

Ambassador Glassman is a member of the board of trustees of the Shakespeare Theatre Company; a director of the Making Every Vote Count Foundation, an organization that educates Americans on the importance of the popular vote for president; and a member of the advisory board of the Infrastructure Bank for America.

Ambassador Glassman is a graduate of Harvard University, where he was Managing Editor of the university daily, The Harvard Crimson.

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