Nadia Catherine Schadlow (born c. 1965) is an American

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

and

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

-related

government officer An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their s ...

who briefly served in 2018 as

Assistant to the President The Executive Office of the President (EOP) comprises the offices and agencies that support the work of the president at the center of the executive branch of the United States federal government. The EOP consists of several offices and agenci ...

and Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy in the

Trump Administration Donald Trump's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Donald Trump, his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican Party ...

. She is the primary author of the 2017 National Security Strategy (NSS).

Early life, education and family

Schadlow grew up in

Bedford Hills, New York Bedford Hills is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Bedford, Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 3,001 at the 2010 census. Two New York State prisons for women, Bedford Hills Correctional Fa ...

. She holds a B.A. degree in government and Soviet studies from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from 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 ...

. She has three children.

Early government career

Schadlow started as a civil servant at the

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philippin ...

focusing on the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and the newly independent

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

within the

Office of the Secretary of Defense The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) is a headquarters-level staff of the United States Department of Defense. It is the principal civilian staff element of the U.S. Secretary of Defense, and it assists the Secretary in carrying out aut ...

."Nadia Schadlow interview"
, ''Intelligence Matters'', CBS News, 2018. Later, she served on the

Defense Policy Board The Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee, also referred to as the Defense Policy Board (DPBAC or DPB), is a Federal Advisory Committee Act, federal advisory committee to the United States Department of Defense. Their charter is available onlin ...

from September 2006 to June 2009.

Academic career

Schadlow is a full member of the

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 ...

. Her articles have appeared in ''

Parameters A parameter (), generally, is any characteristic that can help in defining or classifying a particular system (meaning an event, project, object, situation, etc.). That is, a parameter is an element of a system that is useful, or critical, when ...

'', ''

The American Interest ''The American Interest'' (''AI'') was a bimonthly magazine focusing primarily on foreign policy, international affairs, global economics, and military matters. History The magazine was founded in 2005 by a number of members of the editorial ...

'', the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', and ''

Philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

'', and she has written chapters for several edited volumes. She is author of the book, ''War and the Art of Governance: Consolidating Combat Success Into Political Victory'', which looks at cases in which militaries are involved in non-military governance activities.

National Security Council

Schadlow was appointed to the National Security Council staff by long-time colleague

H.R. McMaster Herbert Raymond McMaster (born July 24, 1962) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who served as the 25th United States National Security Advisor from 2017 to 2018. He is also known for his roles in the Gulf War, Operation Endurin ...

in March 2017. Upon her appointment, journalist Thomas E. Ricks described both her and Fiona Hill, who joined the NSC at the same time, as "well-educated, skeptical, and informed..." During this time, Schadlow became the primary author of the 2017 National Security Strategy (NSS). Her work on the document and the inter-agency process that preceded it were well received by foreign policy experts across the political spectrum. About a year later, Schadlow would comment that the NSS had "achieved the state of mattering". Schadlow was chosen to replace

Dina Powell Dina Powell, also known as Dina Powell McCormick (née Habib , ar, دينا حبيب; June 12, 1973) is an American financial executive, philanthropist, and political advisor, best known for having been the United States Deputy National Securit ...

as deputy national security advisor in January 2018, although her tenure was brief. After

John R. Bolton John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006, and as the 26th United Stat ...

replaced McMaster as National Security Advisor on April 9, 2018, it was announced that Schadlow would resign effective April 27. Her departure was seen as part of a larger "cleaning house" that Bolton undertook upon appointment.

Post-NSC career

Following her resignation from the NSC, she joined the

Hudson Institute The Hudson Institute is a conservative American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1961 in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist, military strategist, and systems theorist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporat ...

as a Senior Fellow and became a Fellow at

Schmidt Futures Schmidt Futures is a philanthropic venture founded by Eric Schmidt and Wendy Schmidt in 2017. The philanthropy funds science and technology research and talent networking programs. The organization's grants include large-scale "moonshots". Schmidt ...

. Schadlow is also an Advisory Board Member of Spirit of America.

References

External links

Biography page at Army War College

December 2018 interview with CBS News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schadlow, Nadia Living people American women civil servants Cornell University alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni United States Department of Defense officials Trump administration personnel United States National Security Council staffers People from Katonah, New York Sacred Heart University faculty Hudson Institute Year of birth missing (living people) United States Deputy National Security Advisors 21st-century American women