Lorne Whitney Craner (born 1959) was an American foreign policy expert, has served in key diplomatic and policymaking roles in three administrations and three times as President of major non-governmental organizations.

Life and career

Early life

Craner was born at Bitburg Air Force Base in Germany. He attended

University College School ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_hea ...

in London and graduated from

Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...

. Craner received a BA from

Reed College Reed College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland neighborhood, with Tudor-Gothic style architecture, and a forested canyon nature preserve at ...

and an MA in National Security Studies from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

. His father Robert received three Silver Stars as a US Air Force pilot and prisoner of war in Vietnam and his mother Audrey was awarded graduate degrees from the Fletcher School and Georgetown University.

Career

In the 1980s Craner worked on foreign policy issues in the US House of Representatives for Congressman Jim Kolbe and in the Senate for Senator John McCain. In 1989 he became a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs and in 1992 a Director of Asian Affairs at the White House National Security Council in the George HW Bush administration. From 1993-2001 he was Vice President, then President of the International Republican Institute (IRI) a democracy assistance NGO. He returned to government as Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor under Secretary of State Colin Powell. His work in the Middle East, Central Asia and China after the 9/11 attacks drew praise from President Bush Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch and Craner received the State Department’s Distinguished Service Award from Secretary Powell. Craner returned to the IRI as President from 2004-2014. He served two terms on the Board of the Millennium Challenge Corporation and consulted on US-European relations and on political risk in Asia and the Middle East, before serving as President of the American Councils for International Education from 2017 to 2019.

References

External links

IRI President Lorne Craner's account and page at "Comment is Free"
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Craner, Lorne 1959 births Living people American activists International Republican Institute Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni Reed College alumni Phillips Exeter Academy alumni