This March 4, with a heavy heart, I share that I am retiring as a U.S. diplomat. I joined the Foreign Service shortly after September 11, 2001, as the daughter, sister, and granddaughter of members of the U.S. military and as a profoundly patriotic American. Earlier in my life, as a student of American history, politics, and law, I developed something akin to reverence for the genius of our government’s checks and balances, for our many rights and privileges, for our difficult and ongoing struggle to form a more perfect union where all are equal, for the rule of law that we painstakingly developed over centuries, and for our openness, generosity of spirit, and diversity. I recognize I have enjoyed these benefits merely because of the accident of my birth here. Thus, I was profoundly proud to be a part of a Foreign Service eager to share our values and urge stability through the rules-based order we sought to create out of the ashes of World War II and to help those most in need through our humanitarian assistance. I feel blessed to have had a career that - most days - made me bound out of bed with commitment and purpose.
This fall, I will join the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as the Knott Distinguished Professor of Practice in Peace, War, and Defense. I am grateful to return to a place where I feel most rooted and to be inspired by the next generation who will carry forward our fight for a better world.
