Associate Professor of Practice
Education
M.A. Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University
Research Areas
Geo-Strategic Affairs
National Security
U.S.-China Relations
Teaching Areas
Foreign Policy
National Security
Asia-Pacific Affairs
David Jonathan Wolff is an Associate Professor of Practice at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas, where he is teaching the Introduction to National Security course.
He has a long career in statecraft as an American diplomat with U.S. Department of State and was the senior strategist with the Strategic Focus Groups at the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and Commander’s Action Group at the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. He started out a congressional aide in the U.S. House of Representatives and the United States Senate. He next conducted research for the president of the East-West Center on Asia-Pacific affairs. As a diplomat, he served at the American embassies in Seoul, London, and Tokyo, and in the front office of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. He was also a member of the U.S. delegation to the Six-Party Talks in Beijing, which focused on the North Korea nuclear issue. His last diplomatic posting was as Political-Military Affairs Chief at Embassy Seoul. Mr. Wolff left government service to join the private sector as a strategic hire for the Booz Allen Hamilton international consulting firm. His clients have included three commanders of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, four commanders of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and two commanders of the Special Operations Command-Pacific. In each case, he led multi-disciplinary teams of experts conducting intelligence analysis, risk assessments, and strategic and operational military planning.
Throughout his career, he has therefore been a trusted advisor to high-level government officials, ambassadors, military flag officers, and C-suite executives, and has worked closely with many domestic and international governmental and non-governmental organizations. He has also negotiated high-value international agreements and helped win and implement multi-million-dollar defense contracts. His goal throughout has been to utilize his cross-cultural background and deep experience in foreign policy and national security affairs to help those he has advised carefully weigh decisions, navigate risks, and perform more effectively in the geo-strategic environments in which they operate.
Mr. Wolff has an M.A. from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and has studied Mandarin at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and Japanese & Korean at the National Foreign Affairs Training Center. Among other commendations, he is a recipient of the Career Manager Award (Booz Allen Hamilton), Outstanding Civilian Service Medal (U.S. Army), and the Superior Honor Award (U.S. Department of State).
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