Document:September 20 Dinner Participant Bios
biographies by Integrity Initiative dated 26 December 2018Subjects: biographies
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September 20 Dinner Participant Bios
September 20 Dinner Participant Bios
Guests
Chris Donnelly, CMG
As a reserve officer in the British Army Intelligence Corps, Chris Donnelly helped to establish, and later headed, the British Army’s Soviet Studies Research Centre at RMA Sandhurst. Between 1989-2003, as Special Adviser to four NATO Secretaries General, he was closely involved in dealing with the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the reform of the newly emerging democracies in Central and Eastern Europe. He left NATO in 2003 to set up and run the UK Defence Academy’s Advanced Research and Assessment Group. In 2010 he became co - Director of The Institute for Statecraft, dealing with new security threats and responses – specifically, new forms of conflict and warfare and how to transform institutions so that they are fit for today’s rapidly changing security environment. Donnelly currently serves as a member of the UK Armed Forces Future Reserves 2020 External Security Team and Specialist Advisor (Strategy and International Security) to the House of Commons Defence Committee. In 2015, he was appointed Honorary Colonel, Specialist Group Military Intelligence, a nationally recruited pool of professionally trained Reservists whose expertise augments the British Army’s 1st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconaissance Brigade.
Captain Herve Hamelin is head of strategy and policy at the French Naval Staff in Paris where he advises Admiral Christophe Prazuck, Chief of the French Navy (CEMM). A naval aviator, Captain Hamelin has over 3,000 flight hours and 500 deck landings. He has been involved in major air operations in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Libya. His decorations include the Legion d’Honneur, the Croix de Guerre, and three Croix de la Valeur Militaire. Captain Hamelin is a 2016 graduate of the Royal College of Defense Studies in London. Herve Hamelin entered the French Naval Academy in 1988 and was selected for flight school, earning his wings 1993 following U.S Navy fighter pilot training. He was commanding officer of a Super-Etendard squadron, executive officer of the anti-air warfare frigate Jean Bart and commanding officer of the frigate Courbet. From 2006 to 2008, he was a planning expert at the French Joint Strategic Headquarters and the French member of the Multinational Interoperability Council Operations Working Group. From 2010 to 2012, Captain Hamelin was commanding officer of the French navy carrier air group on board the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaule during which he conducted air operations in Afghanistan in 2010 and in Libya in 2011. Returning to France, Captain Hamelin assumed command of the French naval air station Landivisiau where he served until 2015. A graduate of the French Joint Defense College, Captain Hamelin also holds an executive MBA from the HEC Business School.
Etienne de Durand
Etienne de Durand joined the French Ministry of Defense in 2015 when he was named Deputy for Defense Policy and Strategic Foresight (Planning) within the ministry’s newly created Directorate General for International Relations and Strategy (DGRIS). An analyst of strategic and military affairs, de Durand was previously a senior research fellow and then the director of security studies (2006-2015) at the French Institute for International Relations (Ifri). Etienne de Durand is also assistant professor at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) where he offers an annual course on foundations of strategic thinking. He has also taught international relations and security studies at the Université Jean Moulin – Lyon III, the Ecole Militaire Spéciale de Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan and the Ecole de Guerre. While at the French Institute for International Affairs, Durand regularly contributed analyses to the French Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs. He part of the group of civilian advisers for General Stanley McChrystal’s Afghanistan review in July 2009, and participated in the preparation of the 2013 Defence White Paper in France. The author or editor of numerous monographs and articles on defence issues, his recent publications in English include: « French Air Power: Effectiveness through Constraints », in John Olsen (dir.), European Airpower: Challenges and Opportunities, University of Nebraska Press, 2014 and « Does France Have an Exit Strategy in Mali? », Foreign Affairs, February 2013.
Yannick Mireur
Yannick Mireur is a French political scientist and author specializing in American affairs and U.S. foreign policy. His current entrepreneurial project is the development of Nexus Forum, an independent organization (but intellectually affiliated to several US energy groups and think tanks) that holds closed-door working sessions of corporate and government executives on energy and infrastructure in emerging markets. Formerly an energy expert at Cambridge Energy Research Associates, he has authored various studies on European gas matters, energy and defense issues, and the implications for US global policy. He later directed an independent think tank and publication center in Paris where he founded Politique Américaine, the French leading journal on US affairs with an outstanding board of US policymakers and scholars (2004–2011). He is the author of two essays on American politics and society (Après Bush: Pourquoi l'Amérique ne changera pas, (After Bush: Why America Will Not Change), 2008, and Le Monde d’Obama (Obama’s World, 2011).
Simond de Galbert
In August 2016, Simond de Galbert took up an assignment to the diplomatic staff of the French embassy in Washington DC as counselor for strategic affairs and security issues. From 2014 to 2016, de Galbert had been a visiting fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington where his research included international and transatlantic sanctions, Euro- Atlantic security and nuclear deterrence and non-proliferation. De Galbert joined French government service in 2011 following graduation from the Ecole Nationale d’Administration and was assigned to the Department of Strategic, Security, and Disarmament Affairs in the French Foreign Ministry. He dealt with nuclear non-proliferation issues mainly in relation to the P5+1 negotiations in which he participated until the summer of 2014 as a member of the French delegation. He was also in charge of the Pakistan and Israel nuclear dossiers. Before joining the ministry, de Galbert had served in 2010 as special assistant to AREVA’s Director for International Affairs and Marketing. Simond de Galbert also holds degrees from the Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) in Paris and McGill University in Montreal.
Dr. Thomas P. Ehrhard
Before assuming his present position as special assistant/deputy chief of staff to the Deputy Secretary of Defense in November 2014, Dr. Ehrhard was the senior civilian assistant to the Chief of Staff to the U.S. Air Force and principal adviser to the Chief of Staff’s Strategic Studies Group. From 2006 to 2009, he was a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
Thomas Ehrhard was a distinguished graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and of the Air Force’s School of Advanced Airpower Studies where he later served as Professor of Strategy and Policy. He also holds a Master’s degree in national security studies from Cal State and a Ph.D. in international relations from Johns Hopkins SAIS. Before retiring as a colonel in the Air Force in 2006, Dr. Ehrhard served as the military assistant to Andrew W. Marshall, the Secretary of Defense’ Director of Net Assessment.
Mark W. Lawrence
Mark Lawrence is Director for NATO and European Strategic Affairs at the National Security Council, Executive Office of the President, a position he has held since March 2015. A U.S. Navy Surface Warfare Officer, Commander Lawrence has served aboard the USS ANZIO (CG 68) and the USS LAKE CHAMPLAIN (CG 57) and in a series of policy and strategy assignments ashore. From 2010 to 2011, he was special assistant and speechwriter to the Chief of Naval Operations and, from2011 to 2014, policy advisor in the European and NATO Policy office within the Office of the Secretary of Defense. From 2014-2015, he was a Federal Executive Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Lawrence holds B.S. and M.A. degrees from Georgetown University and is also a graduate of the University of Antwerp Program on EU Economic Integration.
Ambassador Mark Pekala
Ambassador Mark Pekala joined the faculty of the National War College in 2016 on detail from the U.S. Department of State. Previously, he served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Latvia and, from 2014-2016, as Dean of the School of Professional and Area Studies at the Foreign Service Institute. He has served as Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) in Paris, DCM in Tallinn, Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) in the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, and Senior Director for Russian Affairs on the National Security Council staff. From 1998 to 1999, Ambassador Pekala was a Rusk Fellow at Georgetown University, teaching graduate seminars on U.S.-Russian Relations and European Security. Ambassador Pekala has received nine State Department Superior Honor Awards (six for individual achievements and three for group accomplishments), seven senior performance awards, two Meritorious Honor Awards, the W. Averell Harriman Award, and the Matilda W. Sinclaire Language Award. From the Government of Estonia, he received the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, Third Class, and he received Latvia’s highest state decoration, the Order of the Three Stars. He is an alumnus of the University of Michigan. From Columbia University he received the Master of International Affairs degree, the Certificate from the W. Averell Harriman Institute, and the Master of Philosophy degree in Political Science (all with a specialization in Soviet foreign and defense policy). Ambassador Pekala speaks Estonian, French, Polish, and Russian, and a little Latvian.
CNA Hosts
Dr. Katherine A.W. McGrady
Dr. Katherine A. McGrady is President and Chief Executive Officer, CNA, which operates the Institute for Public Research and the Center for Naval Analyses, a federally-funded research and development center (FFRDC) that pioneered the field of operations analysis in support of the U.S. Navy during World War II. Dr. McGrady began her career with CNA as an analyst in 1988. As the field representative to the Commander of Marine Forces Central Command and Commander, I Marine Expeditionary Force, she served in the Persian Gulf during the first Iraq war (Desert Shield and Desert Storm). She also deployed as part of the Unified Task Force to Mogadishu, Somalia. Subsequent assignments led to her selection as Vice President and Director, Integrated Systems and Operations (ISO) Division, where she led a team focused on issues at the interface between the Navy and Marine Corps, including analysis of expeditionary systems, logistics, operations and tactics, and training for expeditionary operations. Simultaneously, she directed CNA’s Marine Corps Program, where she developed the annual research program and was the primary interface between CNA and the senior Marine Corps leadership. From 2004 through 2009 Dr. McGrady held a variety of positions at CNA: In 2004, she became CNA’s Senior Vice President for Research; in 2006, she was promoted to Executive Vice President; in June 2009, she was appointed CNA’s first Chief Operating Officer. In that role, she was responsible for the execution of CNA’s strategy and business processes, assuring consistency of policy and approach across the organization, and maintaining an environment of accountability and high research performance. Dr. McGrady earned her Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Macromolecular Science and Engineering (Polymer Chemistry) at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, and a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry (cum laude) from Smith College, Northampton, MA
Mark Geis
Mark Geis is executive vice president of CNA's Center for Naval Analyses, the Federally Funded Research and Development Center for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. Geis has more than 27 years of experience at CNA. He began his career in 1987, serving as a research analyst in CNA's Support Planning and Management division. In the 1990s he served as a CNA field representative and in 1997 was named director of the Marine Corps Operations Team in CNA’s Operations Evaluation Group (OEG). From 2000-2005 Geis was a research team leader and served as director of the Naval Operations & Support Team in CNA's Integrated Support and Operations division. From 2005-2015 he served as vice president and director of CNA's Marine Corps Program, and from 2010 to 2015 he was also vice president and director of OEG.
Geis received the Desert Shield/Desert Storm Southwest Asia Civilian Service Medal (1991) for his work in support of II MEF during Operation Desert Shield/Storm and the DoN Meritorious Civilian Service Award (1994) for his work in support of MARFORPAC as the command's field representative during 1992 through 1994. He is a 1984 graduate of Bethel College where he earned a B.A. degree in Mathematics. He also holds an M.S. in Mathematics from the University of Oklahoma (1987).
Dr. Eric V. Thompson
Eric V. Thompson, Ph.D., is vice president and director of CNA Strategic Studies. As a Middle East political and military affairs specialist, he has traveled extensively in North Africa, the Persian Gulf, and the Levant, working closely with U.S. and regional military and civilian leadership. His most recent work has addressed counterterrorism operations, security cooperation activities, military-to-military relations with Egypt, interoperability with Turkish and Algerian maritime forces, and coalition building for military operations in the CENTCOM region.
Thompson's research and analysis extends beyond the Middle East. He has led studies addressing interoperability with NATO navies, global force structure requirements, the implications of the deployment of theater ballistic missile defense systems, the use of distance learning technology in preparing for coalition operations, the effectiveness of Partnership for Peace programs, and future security cooperation priorities for the U.S. military. Thompson is also an adjunct professor at Catholic University of America, where he teaches graduate classes on terrorism and other national security issues. Prior to joining CNA, he was an adjunct professor of international relations and history at the Virginia Military Institute, where he taught courses in Middle East history, international relations and American government, and served as the director of the Model Arab League program.
Mary Ellen Connell
Mary Ellen Connell is a Research Scientist with CNA’s Center for Strategic Studies. A former Counselor in the United States Senior Foreign Service, she served at U.S. embassies in Africa and Europe and at the U.S. Mission to NATO. Mary Ellen Connell is a graduate of the National War College.
