George Violin, Chairman
George Violin is a graduate of Columbia University College of Physicians and was an International Fellow of the University at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). He trained in ophthalmology at Harvard University and has founded several private equity companies. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Ambassador John R. Bolton
John R. Bolton served as the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations from August 1, 2005 to December 9, 2006. From May 2001 to May 2005, Amb. Bolton served as Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. Prior to this, Amb. Bolton was Senior Vice President of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).
Armeane M. Choksi, Ph.D.
Dr. Armeane M. Choksi has advised governments in Latin America, Asia and the Middle East on a variety of issues including foreign trade, financial reform and health and education policies. He spent more than two decades with the World Bank. Currently, Dr. Choksi is president and CEO of Rubicon Capital Investments, LLC and the president of the U.S.-India Institute.
Adm. Leon A. Edney, USN (ret.)
Admiral Leon A. Edney, USN (ret.), a Naval Aviator, retired from active duty in 1992 as NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic, and Commander in Chief, U.S. Atlantic Command. Currently, he is a Capstone Senior Fellow and Senior Fellow at the Center for Naval Analyses and is Director of the Armed Forces Benefit Services, Inc. and The Retired Officers Association.
Lt. Gen. Emerson N. Gardner, USMC (ret.)
Lt. Gen. Emerson N. Gardner, USMC (ret.) has served as the Principal Deputy Director and acting Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Previously, he was the Deputy Commandant of the Marine Corps for Programs and Resources, where he was directly responsible for the integration and execution of all aspects of the Corps’ $33 billion annual budget.
Lt. Gen. Gardner completed 37 years of distinguished service as a Marine officer in 2010. His operational career highlights included tours as a Presidential Command Pilot in HMX-1 (Marine One), tours in Europe and Japan, and command at the squadron and Marine Expeditionary Unit levels in combat and expeditionary operations. As a flag officer, he managed military operations in Afghanistan and the Pacific theater.
Joshua Muravchik, Ph.D.
Dr. Joshua Muravchik is a Foreign Policy Institute Fellow at Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies. His work focuses on American foreign policy, Arab-Israeli relations, domestic influences on foreign policy, human rights, and nation-building and democratization.
Dr. Muravchik serves as adjunct scholar at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy; adjunct professor at the Institute of World Politics. He is a former member of the U.S. State Department Advisory Committee on Democracy Promotion and was a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
Dr. Muravchik’s publications include The Next Founders: Voices of Democracy in the Middle East (2009); The Future of the United Nations (2005); Heaven on Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism (2001); The Imperative of American Leadership (1996); Exporting Democracy: Fulfilling America’s Destiny (1991), and; The Uncertain Crusade: Jimmy Carter and the Dilemmas of Human Rights Policy (1986). He is the author of more than 300 magazine articles.
Michael G. Rapp, Ph.D.
Michael G. Rapp is Executive Director Emeritus of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Cincinnati, and Adjunct Professor, Department of Theology, Xavier University. Dr. Rapp is a member of the Organization of American Historians, American Jewish Historical Society, Immigration and Ethnic History Society, National Association of Scholars, and Ohio Association of Scholars.
Maj. Gen. Sid Shachnow, USA (ret.)
Maj. Gen. Sid Shachnow, USA (ret.), retired from active duty in 1994 as Commanding General, John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School and Commanding General, United States Army Special Forces Command. Maj. Gen. Shachnow is the author of Hope and Honor (Forge/Tor, 2004), an autobiographical account of his experience in a Nazi concentration camp in Lithuania, his immigration to the United States and the role that the U.S. Army played as his guide.
R. Adm. Robert Smith, III, USN (ret.)
R. Adm. Smith retired from the U.S. Navy in 1996 after a 35-year career as a Surface Warfare Officer. His last assignment was chief of staff to the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet based in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Today, R. Adm. Smith is President and CEO of Texas A&M University, Galveston. Previously, he was the Senior Vice President in Charge of the Houston Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. In previous assignments there, he was secretary to the Bank’s Board of Directors and to the Federal Reserve System’s Conference of Presidents. R. Adm. Smith is past chairman of the Houston World Affairs Council.
Ambassador Chase Untermeyer
From 2004 to 2007, Chase Untermeyer was U.S. Ambassador to the State of Qatar. Today, he is a Houston-based international business consultant. Amb. Untermeyer has held both elected and appointed office at all four levels of government – local, state, national, and international – over a period of almost 35 years, with work in journalism, academia, and business as well.