The Board of Directors

By law, the United States Institute of Peace is governed by a bipartisan Board of Directors. The board is composed of twelve members from outside federal service appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate, and four ex-officio members: the secretary of state (who may designate another Senate-confirmed State Department official), the secretary of defense (who may designate another Senate-confirmed Defense Department official), the president of the National Defense University (who may designate the vice president of the National Defense University), and the president of the Institute (nonvoting). The board is prohibited by law from having more than eight voting members of the same political party.

The Board of Directors actively oversees the activities of the United States Institute of Peace—setting long-term goals and priorities for the Institute as well as monitoring the Institute''s financial, administrative, and personnel policies. The board approves major new program initiatives and makes final decisions in the selection of Institute grantees, fellows, and winners of the National Peace Essay Contest for high school students. To accomplish these tasks, the board meets five times each year in regular meetings, with special meetings of Board subgroups convened as necessary.

Members appointed to serve on the Board of Directors may serve no more than two four-year terms, although they may continue to serve until replaced. Many distinguished Americans from across the country have served on the board since the Institute''s founding.

The chair and vice chair of the Board of Directors are elected by the board from among the twelve directors appointed from outside federal service. The chair, or the vice chair in the chair''s absence, presides over all meetings of the board and serves for a term of three years. The current chair of the Board of Directors is J. Robinson West. The current vice chair is María Otero.

Past Chairs of the Board of Directors

- Chester A. Crocker, 1992-2004
Read an address to the board: The Growth of a Unique Federal Agency
August 4, 2004
- Elspeth Davies Rostow, 1991-1992
- John Norton Moore, 1986-1991

Current Board

- J. Robinson West (Chair)
Chairman, PFC Energy
- María Otero (Vice Chair)
President, ACCION International
- Holly J. Burkhalter
Vice President, Government Relations, International Justice Mission
- Anne H. Cahn
Former Scholar in Residence, American University
- Chester A. Crocker
James R. Schlesinger Professor of Strategic Studies, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
- Laurie S. Fulton
Partner, Williams and Connolly
- Charles Horner
Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute
- Kathleen Martinez
Executive Director, World Institute on Disability
- George E. Moose
Adjunct Professor of Practice, The George Washington University
- Jeremy A. Rabkin
Professor, George Mason School of Law
- Ron Silver
Actor, Producer, Director, Primiparous Productions, Inc.
- Judy Van Rest
Executive Vice President, International Republican Institute

Members ex officio

- David Kramer
Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Department of State
- Christopher "Ryan" Henry
Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Policy, Department of Defense
- Richard H. Solomon
President, United States Institute of Peace (nonvoting)
- Frances C. Wilson
Lieutenant General, U.S. Marine Corps, President, National Defense University