Former US Assistant Secretary of State Named Distinguished Resident Fellow and More

Sanford  announces the appointment of The Honorable Dr. John Hillen as a Distinguished Resident Fellow at the Center for Politics (POLIS) and an Executive-in-Residence of the Political Science Department.  In this role, Dr. Hillen will teach courses on civil discourse, leadership and support the POLIS Civil Discourse Project (CDP), courses in diplomacy and national security, and participate in activities and programs in the broader Sanford School community. Hillen will also be actively engaged in the Duke Program in American Grand Strategy, where he has been an alumni mentor and enthusiastic program participant. He joined the March 2025 “staff ride” to Japan to study the Battle of Okinawa and the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

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Hillen is a former US Assistant Secretary of State, decorated Army combat veteran, and former public company CEO.  He currently serves as a Board Chairman of several companies and  as the James C. Wheat Jr. Visiting Professor in Leadership at Hampden-Sydney College.  A 1988 Duke public policy graduate and Fulbright scholar, he has been an adjunct Professor at the Sanford school and also in the business school at George Mason University – where he has won several teaching awards.   

Unanimously confirmed by the Senate in 2005, Hillen served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs in the second half of the Bush administration and in that capacity spent much of his time with U.S. and allied troops in war zones from Iraq to Afghanistan to the southern Philippines. He has written or edited several critically acclaimed books on international security affairs and has published articles in dozens of journals and newspapers, including Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, National Review, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.   He has appeared on every major television network and was an on-air commentator for ABC News for a number of years.  

A public intellectual and experienced policy professional, Hillen has also published extensively on leadership, public policy, and strategy.   He has been affiliated with National Review magazine for over 25 years, as a contributing editor in the past and most recently eight years as the Executive Chairman of NR’s board, on which he still serves as a director.   He is also a trustee or director of a number of non-profit public policy centers and think tanks, including The Vandenberg Coalition and The Foreign Policy Research Institute.  He has held fellowships at think tanks ranging from The Council on Foreign Relations to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

In addition to his public policy work, Hillen has served as CEO, President, or COO or several different companies – both public and private – in different industries.  He has been a director on over a dozen corporate boards (public and private) and a trustee or director in many non-profit enterprises.   

An experienced facilitator and teacher, he moderates leadership seminars for The Aspen Institute and wrote a column on leadership and strategy issues for Washington Technology magazine and Forbes.  His last book, What Happens Now: Reinvent Yourself As a Leader Before Your Business Outruns You (co-authored with Mark Nevins) was named one of the top 30 business books of 2018 and is in its third printing.  His most recent book is The Strategy Dialogues, A Primer on Business Strategy and Strategic Management.

Hillen, who served for 12 years as an Army reconnaissance officer and paratrooper, was awarded the Bronze Star for his role in the Battle of the 73 Easting during Operation Desert Storm.  He spent nine years on the Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel, the federal advisory committee supporting the head of the U.S. Navy, and received the Navy’s Meritorious Public Service Award in 2017. He was the military advisor on the original Call of Duty video game series set in World War II.  In 2020 he was inducted into the US Army ROTC Hall of Fame, the only Duke ROTC graduate to be so honored.

"Dr. Hillen will be an incredible addition to Polis/CDP team as his remarkable scholarship and leadership will further advance the centers’ strategic priorities and provide much needed growth opportunities for our students," said Abdullah Antepli, director of POLIS. "John brings a wealth of wisdom  and life experience with him and I am looking forward to lifting up the timely work with him in these trying times."

In addition to his undergraduate degree from Duke, Dr. Hillen holds a master’s degree in war studies from King’s College London, a doctorate in international relations from Oxford University, and an MBA from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University.   He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws from Hampden-Sydney College in 2019.