Esther Diane Brimmer (born 1961) is an American foreign policy expert and former

Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs The Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs is the head of the Bureau of International Organization Affairs within the United States Department of State that creates and executes policy in international organizations ...

. In June 2013, she left her post as Assistant Secretary and returned to academia. In January 2017, she became the executive director and CEO of NAFSA. From October 2013 to January, 2017, she served as the J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Professor of International Affairs at the

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

Elliott School of International Affairs The Elliott School of International Affairs (known as the Elliott School or ESIA) is the professional school of international relations, foreign policy, and international development of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. It i ...

Education

She received a B.A. in International Relations from

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became ...

Claremont, California Claremont () is a suburban city on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles. It is in the Pomona Valley, at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. As of the 2010 census it had a popul ...

, USA., and a M.A. and D.Phil. in International Relations from the

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

, UK. She received an honorary doctorate from Pomona College in 2019. She is a graduate of National Cathedral School for Girls (1979), and was one of the first African American students in the sixties at Beauvoir, the National Cathedral Elementary School.

Career

Brimmer has served in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

government and in international affairs think tanks. From 1999-2001 she was a Member of the Office of Policy Planning at the U.S.

Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

working on the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, Western Europe, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, and multilateral security issues. From 1995-1999 she managed projects as a Senior Associate at the Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict. She also served as a Special Assistant to the

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs The Under Secretary for Political Affairs is currently the fourth-ranking position in the United States Department of State, after the secretary, the deputy secretary, and the deputy secretary of state for management and resources. The current un ...

(1993-1995) and as a Legislative Analyst at the

Democratic Study Group The Democratic Study Group (DSG) was a caucus consisting of liberal members of the Democratic Party in the United States House of Representatives, which also operated as a legislative service organization (LSO). It was founded in 1959 and was active ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

(1991-1993). Following her school work at Oxford, she was a

management consultant Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultants ...

with

McKinsey McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...

. From September 2005 on Brimmer was a visiting professor at the

College of Europe The College of Europe (french: Collège d'Europe) is a post-graduate institute of European studies with its main campus in Bruges, Belgium and a second campus in Warsaw, Poland. The College of Europe in Bruges was founded in 1949 by leading ...

. She was nominated to the post of Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

on March 11, 2009, and was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 2, 2009. Previously, Dr. Brimmer served as Deputy Director and Director of Research at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the

Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., United States, with campuses in Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China. It is consistently ranked one of the ...

(SAIS) at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

She is a member of the

Atlantic Council The Atlantic Council is an American think tank in the field of international affairs, favoring Atlanticism, founded in 1961. It manages sixteen regional centers and functional programs related to international security and global economic prosp ...

Board of Directors,

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

, and Women in International Security. She left her post at the State Department in June 2013 to resume her position in academia.

Personal life

Brimmer is the daughter of

Andrew Brimmer Andrew Felton Brimmer (September 13, 1926 – October 7, 2012) was an American economist and business leader who served as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors from 1966 to 1974. A member of the Democratic Party, Brimmer was the ...

, the first African American to have served as governor of the Federal Reserve System. Her husband is historian and author Steven Beller. They have one son Nathaniel.

Publications

She has, inter alia, edited ''Transforming Homeland Security: U.S. and European Approaches'' (2006), ''The Strategic Implications of European Union Enlargement'' (with Fröhlich, 2005), ''The EU’s Search for a Strategic Role: ESDP and Its Implications for Transatlantic Relations'' (2002) and ''The European Union Constitutional Treaty: A Guide for Americans'' (2004), and she is the author of ''The United States, the European Union and International Human Rights Issues'' (2002).College of Europe
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brimmer, Esther 1961 births 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American politicians African-American diplomats African-American women in politics American diplomats American management consultants American women diplomats Atlantic Council Academic staff of the College of Europe George Washington University faculty Living people McKinsey & Company people Obama administration personnel Pomona College alumni United States Assistant Secretaries of State