Suhail A. Khan is the Senior Fellow for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Institute for Global Engagement and Director of External Affairs at Microsoft Corporation. Khan was previously a senior political appointee with the Bush administration, and a conservative political activist in

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, ...

Background and education

Khan was born in Boulder, Colorado, to parents who emigrated to Wyoming and Colorado from

southern India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territ ...

. The oldest of five children, Suhail grew up in California, earned his high school diploma from St. Lawrence Academy in Santa Clara in 1987 (a private Catholic college preparatory school), a B.A. in political science from the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

in 1991 and his J.D. from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

in 1995.

Career

Khan served as Policy Director and Press Secretary for U.S. Congressman Tom Campbell (R-CA), working closely on legislation relating to health antitrust reform, religious freedom, the preservation of the

Second Amendment The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...

tort reform Tort reform refers to changes in the civil justice system in common law countries that aim to reduce the ability of plaintiffs to bring tort litigation (particularly actions for negligence) or to reduce damages they can receive. Such changes a ...

, gun control, the reform of race-based affirmative action, and the 1998 impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives. After the 2000 elections, he aided the

White House Office of Public Liaison The White House Office of Public Engagement is a unit of the White House Office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. Under the administration of President Barack Obama, it was called the White House Office of Public ...

in the President’s outreach to the conservative, think-tank, military and veteran and Asian-American communities. He served as Assistant to the Secretary for Policy under U.S. Secretary Mary Peters at the

U.S. Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...

, where he was awarded the Secretary’s Team Award in 2005 and the Gold Medal for Outstanding Achievement in 2007. In 2010 and again in 2013, Khan led delegations of American and international faith leaders to Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp that operated in German-occupied Poland and the Dachau concentration camp in Germany, to educate faith and community leaders regarding the tragedy of the Holocaust during World War Two. Joined by Rabbi Jack Bemporad of the Center for Interreligious Understanding of New Jersey and Professor Marshall Breger of the Catholic University of America

Columbus School of Law The Columbus School of Law, also known as Catholic Law or CUA Law, is the law school of the Catholic University of America, a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. More than 400 Juris Doctor students attend Catholic La ...

, the delegations visited the death camps, met with survivors, issued statements strongly condemning anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial, and pledged to fight religious bigotry.

Political activities

In a volunteer capacity, Khan was an active participant in the RNC’s 72-hour program and deployed to key races in states including Colorado, Washington, Iowa, Louisiana, Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Khan serves on the Board of Directors for the

American Conservative Union The American Conservative Union (ACU) is an American political organization that advocates for conservative policies, ranks politicians based on their level of conservatism, and organizes the Conservative Political Action Conference. Founded on ...

, the Indian American Conservative Council, and on the interfaith Buxton Initiative Advisory Council. He speaks regularly at conferences and venues such as the

Conservative Political Action Conference The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC; ) is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States and beyond. CPAC is hosted by the American Conservative Union (ACU) ...

(CPAC), the

Council for National Policy The Council for National Policy (CNP) is an umbrella organization and networking group for conservative and Republican activists in the United States. It was launched in 1981 during the Reagan administration by Tim LaHaye and the Christian rig ...

(CNP), the

Harbour League Harbour League were a franchise in the now defunct Bartercard Cup rugby league competition in New Zealand. They represented Aucklands North Shore City. They were formed in 2006 to take over from the Hibiscus Coast Raiders and the North Harbour ...

, and the

National Press Club Organizations A press club is an organization for journalists and others professionally engaged in the production and dissemination of news. A press club whose membership is defined by the press of a given country may be known as a National Press ...

and has contributed to publications such as the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

Forum On Faith'', the ''Washington Post'', Foreign Policy, and Human Events. Khan was interviewed, by Pastor Bob Roberts of

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

, wherehe discussed Muslim-Christian interaction and his experience serving in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

, and has appeared on the BBC, CNN, Al-Jazeera, CSPAN, and

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politi ...

's ''

The Rachel Maddow Show ''The Rachel Maddow Show'' (also abbreviated ''TRMS'') is an American liberal news and opinion television program that airs on MSNBC, running in the 9:00 pm ET timeslot Monday evenings. It is hosted by Rachel Maddow, who gained a public p ...

'' as a conservative commenter. Khan has been critical of anti-Muslim sentiments among conservatives and Republicans.

Trump administration

In 2015, Khan criticized Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for his anti-Muslim remarks. Khan criticized Islamophobic remarks by Republican candidates Ben Carson and Donald Trump, arguing that they are damaging the efforts of the party to recruit Muslims. After Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination, Khan stated "I’m not a Trump supporter; I initially supported Rand Paul," and "As a lawyer and conservative, I see that Trump’s comments have had a negative impact on the party." In a 2017 interview, Khan said of the Trump presidency "I'm excited for the nomination and confirmations of Justice Neal Gorsuch and FCC Chairman

Ajit Pai Ajit Varadaraj Pai (; born January 10, 1973) is an American lawyer who served as chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from 2017 to 2021. He has been a partner at the private-equity firm Searchlight Capital since April 20 ...

". He also anticipated that the Trump administration would work on tax reform for small-business owners and the middle class. Khan was listed as an advisory board member of the "Indian Voices for Trump" coalition for Trump's 2020 re-election campaign.

Background and education

Career

Political activities

Trump administration

References

Further reading