Guest Speakers
A hallmark of the SEGL student experience is exposure to a variety of fascinating, influential, and experienced leaders from many walks of life. As a nonpartisan institution, we strive to provide students the opportunity to hear perspectives that both inspire and challenge, regardless of a student’s ideology or political leanings. Within the classroom, we consider viewpoints through a critical lens, deepening understanding of our own and others’ beliefs.
Below is a list highlighting only a few of the incredible speakers SEGL students have heard from over the years.
David Abshire
- President, Center for the Study of the Presidency
Tom Adkins
- Social Entrepreneur
- Founder, and Principal, Open Organize
Simon Allison
- Africa Editor, Mail & Guardian
Frank Anderson
- President, Middle East Policy Council
Ghaith Al-Omari
- Senior Fellow, The Washington Institute
- Executive Director, American Task Force in Palestine (ATFP)
- Former Palestinian negotiator
Capt. Mark Bedrin
- Legislative Liaison, United States Army
Josh Bolten
- White House Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush
John Brennan
- Former Director Central Intelligence Agency
Kurt Campbell
- Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Tucker Carlson
- Host of Tucker Carlson Tonight, Fox News
Khary Cauthen
- Former Special Assistant to the Chairman, White House Council on Environmental Quality
Sasha Chanoff
- Founder and Director, M’pendo International
Lt. Col. Daniel Coe
- Chief of the Conventional Arms Control Branch, Pentagon
Brandi Colander
- Former Deputy General Counsel, White House Council on Environmental Quality
Amb. Mamady Condé
- Guinean Ambassador to the United States
Hon. Tom Coburn (R-OK)
- United States Senator, Oklahoma
Fernando Cutz
- Former Director for South America, National Security Council
Amb. Mark Dybul
- Former United States Global AIDS Coordinator
Wendy Edelberg
- Associate Director for Economic Analysis, Congressional Budget Office
David Ettinger
- Research Librarian, The George Washington University
Amb. Daniel Fried
- Special Envoy for Closure of the Guantanamo Detainee Facility
Hon. Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY)
- United States Senator, New York
Nitin Gajria
- Managing Director for Google Africa
Justin Goforth
- Director, Medical Adherence United and STD Services, Whitman-Walker Clinic
Bailey Hand
- Special Assistant/Acting Chief of Staff, United States Secretary of Defense
Hon. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)
- United States Representative, New York
Kevin Jennings
- Deputy Assistant Secretary of Education, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools
Jeh Johnson
- (Former) U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security
David Keene
- (Former) President, National Rifle Association
Steve Killelea
- Founder, Global Peace Index
Egil “Bud” Krogh
- Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress Senior Fellow and Chair on Leadership, Ethics, and Integrity
Laura Lane
- President, Global Public Affairs, UPS
- Former United States Embassy official, Kigali, Rwanda
Hon. John Lewis (D-GA)
- United States Representative, Georgia
- Civil Rights Leader
Lawrence Manzi
- First Counselor, Embassy of Rwanda to the United States
Mike McCurry
- Former White House Press Secretary
- Co-Chair, Commission on Presidential Debates
General Stanley McChrystal
- Commander, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
- Commander, United States Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A)
Derek Mitchell
- United States Special Envoy to Rwanda
George Moose
- Former Assistant Secretary of State, African Affairs
Amb. Dan Mozena
- Senior Coordinator for Boko Haram, United States State Department
Lissa Muscatine
- Senior Advisor and Chief of Speechwriting, United States State Department
Ian Neilson
- Former Mayor of Cape Town, South Africa
Mary Neumayr
- Chairman, White House Council on Environmental Quality
Dr. Joseph Newhouse
- Director, PhD in Health Policy, Harvard University
President Barack Obama
- Former President of the United States of America
His Highness Reza Pahlavi
- Former Crown Prince of Iran
Hon. Tom Perriello (D-VA)
- United States Representative, Virginia
Abby Phillip
- White House Correspondent, CNN
Hon. Jamie Raskin (D-MD)
- United States Representative, Maryland
Megan Rooney
- Speechwriter to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama
Carine Rusesabagina
- Activist, daughter of Paul Rusesabagina of “Hotel Rwanda”
Abdul Aziz Said
- Mohammed Said Farsi Professor of Islamic Peace, American University
Robert Satloff
- Executive Director, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Eric Schmitt
- Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, The New York Times
Hon. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
- United States Senator, New York
L. Michael Seidman
- Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Constitutional Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Elodie Shami
- Education Officer, Embassy of Rwanda to the United States
Elad Strohmayer
- Spokesperson of the Embassy of Israel to the United States
Trigg Talley
- Director of the Office of Global Change, United States Department of State
Justice Clarence Thomas
- Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court
Amb. Melanne Verveer
- United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues
Joe Weinstein
- Senior Partner, Global Social Enterprise Initiative
Cornell West
- Philosopher, Activist
Carl Wilkens
- Executive Director, World Outside My Shoes
- Former Director, ADRA in Rwanda
- Medal of Valor, Simon Weisenthal Center