Board of Directors

The Hollings Center’s Board of Directors is responsible for setting the overall direction of the organization, overseeing its operations, and ensuring that programs are fulfilling the Center’s mission. See the full list of our current directors below.

Ambassador Deborah Jones, ret.

Chair

Ambassador Deborah K. Jones, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service was nominated by President Obama to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to Libya in March 2013. She was confirmed by the Senate in May 2013. Ambassador Jones served as Scholar-in-Residence at the Middle East Institute from August 2012 to March 2013. Effective February 2016, Ambassador Jones was a Career Minister (vice Minister-Counselor) and retired November 30, 2016. Prior to her time in Libya, she was detailed as Senior Faculty Advisor for National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, RI. Ambassador Jones served as U.S. Ambassador to the State of Kuwait from 2008 to 2011 and as Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, Turkey from 2005 to 2007. Additional overseas assignments include posts in Argentina, Iraq, Tunisia, Syria, Ethiopia (with regional responsibility for Eritrea, Djibouti and the Sudan), and the United Arab Emirates. Additional Washington assignments with the State Department include the Secretariat’s Seventh Floor Operations Center, as Staff Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Near East and South Asian Affairs, Acting Public Affairs Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Near East Affairs, Jordan Desk Officer, Director of the Office of Arabian Peninsula Affairs and Iran, and the Board of Examiners. Ambassador Jones joined the Department of State in 1982. She received a B.A. in History, magna cum laude, from Brigham Young University and is a “Distinguished Graduate” of the National War College, National Defense University, with a Master’s Degree in National Security Strategy.

Kate Eltrich

Treasurer

Kate Eltrich has 15 years of Federal budget, policy, and legislative experience gained while working in both the legislative and executive branches. Kate works across Sixkiller Consulting’s client portfolio, assisting clients on a range of policy and business development matters, with an emphasis on helping clients anticipate and execute strategies to succeed in a restrained budget environment. Kate was a political appointee during the first term of the Obama Administration, serving as associate director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and leading the Office of Legislative Affairs. In this role, Kate was responsible for guiding the President’s budget request through Congress and developing the Administration’s position on proposed legislation. Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Kate spent eight years working on the Senate Appropriations Committee, where she served under Chairmen Robert C. Byrd (D‐WV) and Daniel K. Inouye (D‐HI). While on the Committee, Kate developed budgetary and policy recommendations for a range of Federal departments and programs. As professional staff on the Commerce, Justice, State and State & Foreign Operations Subcommittees, Kate gained a detailed understanding of the Federal government’s overall foreign affairs budget. Ms. Eltrich played a significant role in the formation of the Center and is a former staffer to Sen. Hollings.

Barbara Brittingham

Barbara Brittingham is President Emerita of the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), which accredits over 200 colleges and universities in United States and American- style institutions abroad. Previously she served as a member and chair of the Commission. Earlier she served as Dean and Professor at the University of Rhode Island. Her degrees are from Iowa State University. Her publications focus on accreditation, governing boards, and fundraising. Currently she serves on the Board of the National Student Clearinghouse, the Board of Trustees of Wheaton College (MA), the Urban College of Boston, the American University of Kurdistan, and the Hollings Center for International Dialogue. She is an advisor to the Transformational Partnerships Fund and a Senior Consultant to the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS). Internationally, she served as a Fulbright Senior Specialist in Vietnam and Morocco. She worked in Turkey on a World Bank project and in the United Arab Emirates as a founding dean at Zayed University. She has served on the board of Quality and Qualifications Ireland and on the Quality Board in Iceland and has been a consultant to Sandooq Al Watan in the UAE. She has worked with ministries and universities in over twenty-five countries, sponsored by the Fulbright Commission, the U.S. State Department, the World Bank, and local governments and universities.

Richard A. Detweiler

Richard A. Detweiler (Rick) is the president of the Great Lakes Colleges Association, an organization of selective, independent, Midwestern U.S. colleges and universities. He is also the founder of the Global Liberal Arts Alliance, a coalition of 27 universities from 14 countries that works to strengthen learning in the tradition of the liberal arts and sciences. A social psychologist specializing in intercultural relations, he earned his PhD from Princeton University. He holds an appointment as a Foundation Fellow at Oxford University’s Harris Manchester College and is President Emeritus of Hartwick College. Previously he was a distinguished fellow at the Council on Library and Information Resources in Washington, D.C.; president and professor of psychology at Hartwick College in New York; and vice president and professor of psychology at Drew University in New Jersey. Professionally he has been an active researcher, consultant, and author in higher education, institutional planning, intercultural relations, international education, and psychology. He has published dozens of articles related to higher education, psychology, and intercultural relations, and speaks frequently on issues related to the future of higher education in a global context. He was a founding dean of the Frye Leadership Institute at Emory University, the recipient of a Carnegie Mellon University/AMS Award for leadership in the innovative use of computer and communications technology, an award from the American Council on Education for leadership in internationalization through technology, is on the Board of Trustees of Sterling College of Vermont, and has served as a board member of many higher education organizations.

John A. Gastright

From March 2005 to December 2007, Gastright served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and the U.S. Interagency Coordinator for Afghanistan.  From March 2003 to June 2005, he served as Special Assistant for South Asia to Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.  Prior to service at the State Department, Gastright served as a congressional staffer in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate from 1995 to 2003. From 1988 to 1994, he was an officer in the United States Navy and from 1987 to 1988, he served as a City of Charleston, South Carolina Police Officer.  Gastright hold Masters Degrees from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and the Naval War College in Newport, R.I. He received his Bachelor’s degree from the Citadel in Charleston, S.C.

Dr. Nader Habibi

Nader Habibi is the Henry J. Leir Professor of the Economics of the Middle East at Brandeis University’s Crown Center for Middle East Studies. His research has focused on economic and financial conditions of oil-exporting Middle Eastern countries, particularly Iran and the GCC countries. Before joining Brandeis University in June 2007, he served as managing director of economic forecasting and risk analysis for Middle East and North Africa at Global Insight Ltd. Mr. Habibi has more than 25 years of experience in teaching, research, and management positions;, including Vice President for Research at the Iran Banking Institute (Tehran), Assistant Professor of Economics in Bilkent University (Ankara, Turkey), and the director of forecasting and analysis for the Middle East region in IHS/Global Insight. He is the author of a book on bureaucratic corruption, two books of fiction,  and several articles in refereed academic journals. He earned his PhD in economics and a master of science degree in systems engineering at Michigan State University. His most recent research project focuses on analysis of the high rates of unemployment among young university graduates in Middle Eastern countries.

Michael McCarry

Michael McCarry served as Executive Director of the Alliance for International Exchange from 1994-2015, when he retired.  During that time, the Alliance more than doubled in size (from 42 member organizations to 92), and became the primary policy voice of the U.S. exchange community.  In addition to advocacy in support of both exchange funding and sensible regulation, he led many delegations of Alliance members on visits to U.S. diplomatic posts abroad to discuss the impact of exchange programs and the role of sponsors with consular and public affairs sections.

Prior to joining the Alliance, McCarry served as a USIA Foreign Service Officer, with overseas postings in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Beijing.  Domestically, he served as Staff Director in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and as chief of the overseas student advising branch.

In his retirement, he serves as a trustee of the EF Foundation, which oversees EF’s high school exchange program, as a consultant to Cenet, a nonprofit exchange organization based in Missouri, and as a board member of the Public Diplomacy Council. 

A non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to fostering dialogue between the United States and countries with predominantly Muslim populations in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, Eurasia and Europe

E-mail: info@hollingscenter.org

US Phone: +1 202-833-5090

Istanbul Phone: +90 530 151 5603

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