April 5, 2015 Bruce Jentleson Named Kissinger Chair at John W. Kluge Center

Press Contact: Donna Urschel (202) 707-1639
Public Contact: Jason Steinhauer (202) 707-0213

Librarian of Congress James H. Billington has appointed Bruce W. Jentleson, an accomplished American foreign policy scholar and former senior adviser at the U.S. State Department, as the Henry A. Kissinger Chair in Foreign Policy and International Relations at the Library’s John W. Kluge Center.

Jentleson is a professor at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy and a professor of political science. His tenure as Kissinger Chair will begin in the fall and continue for nine months.

While in residence, Jentleson will complete his forthcoming book, “Transformational Statesmanship: Difficult, Possible, Necessary.” The book focuses on 20th-century world leaders who made major breakthroughs for global peace and security, drawing lessons for key 21st-century policy challenges. Jentleson will use Library of Congress holdings including the Harry Truman, Dag Hammarskjöld and Henry Kissinger papers, documents related to the Middle East peace process, and the Foreign Relations of the United States volumes to further his research.

“I am deeply honored to have been selected for the Kissinger Chair,” Jentleson said, “and look forward to the opportunity to both gain from and contribute to the Kluge Center.”

Jentleson’s career spans public policy and academia. From 2009 to 2011, he was senior adviser to the U.S. State Department policy-planning director. He also served as a senior foreign policy adviser to Vice President Al Gore during his 2000 presidential campaign, in the Clinton administration State Department (1993-94), and as a foreign-policy aide to U.S. Sens. Gore (1987-88) and Dave Durenberger (1978-79).

In 2014, Jentleson was a distinguished scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and is now a global fellow there. Other research appointments include the Brookings Institution, the U.S. Institute of Peace, Oxford University, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (London) and Australia National University. He was a Fulbright senior research scholar in Spain. He holds a Ph.D. from Cornell University, and was a recipient of the American Political Science Association’s Harold D. Lasswell Award for his doctoral dissertation. He earned a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a bachelor’s degree from Cornell. Among his other books is “American Foreign Policy: The Dynamics of Choice in the 21st Century.”

The Kissinger Chair is a distinguished senior research position; its holder is in residence at the Library for a period of up to 10 months. Using research facilities and services at the Library of Congress, the scholar is expected to engage in research on foreign policy and international affairs that will lead to publication and share his or her expertise, through public lectures and dialogues, with Congress and other policymakers.

The annual appointment of the Kissinger scholar is made by the Librarian of Congress upon the recommendation of a selection committee consisting of representatives from the academic community and foreign-policy experts. The appointment ensures that the subject of foreign affairs, taken broadly, receives reflective and considered treatment each year in Washington, D.C., by distinguished, experienced scholars and practitioners.

The John W. Kluge Center was established at the Library of Congress in 2000 to foster a mutually enriching relationship between the world of ideas and the world of action, between scholars and political leaders. The center attracts outstanding scholarly figures to Washington, D.C., facilitates their access to the Library’s remarkable collections, and helps them engage in conversation with policymakers and the public. Learn more at www.loc.gov/kluge/.

The Library of Congress, the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution and the largest library in the world, holds more than 160 million items in various languages, disciplines and formats. The Library serves the U.S. Congress and the nation both on-site in its reading rooms on Capitol Hill and through its award-winning website at www.loc.gov.

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PR 15-054
2015-04-06
ISSN 0731-3527