Michael ohanlon biography

MichaelO'Hanlon

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Director of Research – Foreign Policy,Director – Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology,Co-Director – Africa Security Initiative,Senior Fellow – Foreign Policy, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology,Philip H. Knight Chair in Defense and Strategy

Michael O’Hanlon is the inaugural holder of the Philip H. Knight Chair in Defense and Strategy and director of research in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution, where he specializes in U.S. defense strategy and budgets, the use of military force, and American national security policy. He is a senior fellow and directs the Strobe Talbott Center on Security, Strategy, and Technology. He co-directs the Africa Security Initiative as well. He is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and Columbia University and a member of the Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board; he was also a member of the external advisory board at the Central Intelligence Agency from 2011-12. In 2023, O’Hanlon published a book titled “Military History for the Modern S

O'Hanlon, Michael E.

(Michael Edward O'Hanlon)

PERSONAL: Male. Education:Princeton University, B.A., 1982, M.S.E., 1987, M.A., 1988; Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University, Ph.D., 1991.

ADDRESSES: Office—Brookings Institution, 1775 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20036-2188. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer and educator. Peace Corps Volunteer, Congo, 1982–84; Congressional Budget Office, Washington, DC, defense and foreign policy budget analyst, 1989–94; Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, 1994–, currently a senior fellow, Foreign Policy Studies, and the Sydney Stein, Jr. Chair; Columbia University, New York, NY, adjunct professor; Georgetown University, Washington, DC, adjunct professor, 1996–; Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, visiting lecturer. Also previously served as a research assistant with the National Security Division, Institute for Defense Analyses.

Also a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the Council on Foreign Relations.

AWARDS, HONORS: Foreign Policy Studies senior fellow.

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I grew up in the Finger Lakes region of western New York where I worked on a dairy farm, developed a love for astronomy and history, ran track and x-country (badly), and was lucky to be part of a great family. Studied physics at Hamilton College and Princeton, the latter with the “gravity group,” where one year we tried and failed to disprove Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity! I served in the Peace Corps in DRC—amazing experience. Back at Princeton, I struggled for a while to find my way in grad school, but ultimately crossed the finish line with degrees in engineering and public policy. Next, I had the honor and pleasure to work for 5 years at the Congressional Budget Office, with lots of good folks, and then moved to Brookings in 1994, where I’ve been ever since. Married to a great wife; we have two awesome daughters. Passions outside work include tennis and advocacy for those with autism. I feel lucky and blessed though it often hasn’t been an easy path.

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