Reuben Brigety

Brigety speaking at the Washington Foreign Press Center, 2010.

A native of Jacksonville, Florida, Brigety is the son of Reuben Brigety, a physician, and Barbara Brigety, an educator and school administrator. He graduated from Sandalwood High School as the salutatorian.[1] He applied to the US Naval Academy, and was appointed there as part of the Class of 1995. At the Academy, served as the Midshipman Brigade Commander during his senior year. He earned a Bachelor of Science in political science and graduated as a Distinguished Naval Graduate.[1][2]

After graduation, he served in The Pentagon. Then through the Thomas G. Pownall Scholarship awarded him from the Naval Academy Alumni Association, he spent two years at the University of Cambridge in England, where he obtained a Master of Philosophy in international relations. Brigety then served as an active duty U.S. naval officer, and entered training to be a submarine officer.[1] Determined to dedicate himself to humanitarian causes, he requested and received an honorable discharge and returned to study at Cambridge and earned Doctor of Philosophy, also in international relations.[1][2]

From August 2003 and April 2009, Brigety served as an assistant professor of government and politics at George Mason University and at the American University School of International Service. In addition, he was a researcher with the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch from August 2001 through May 2003, conducting research missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.[2]

Brigety is a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a recipient of the Council’s International Affairs Fellowship.[2]

Brigety speaking at Chatham House: The Royal Institute of International Affairs, London.

From January 2007 to January 2008, Brigety served as a Special Assistant in the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance at the U.S. Agency for International Development. From January 2008 to November 2009, he served as Director of the Sustainable Security Program at the Center for American Progress. From November 2008 to January 2009, he also served as a senior advisor for Development and Security to the U.S. Central Command Assessment Team in Washington and in Doha, Qatar.[2]

From December 2009 to November 2011, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. In this capacity, he supervised U.S. refugee programs in Africa, managed U.S. humanitarian diplomacy with major international partners, and oversaw the development of international migration policy.[2]

Brigety was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of African Affairs on November 14, 2011, with responsibility for Southern African and Regional Security Affairs,[2] and served in that capacity until September 3, 2013. From that date, he served as the appointed Representative of the United States of America to the African Union and Permanent Representative of the United States to the UN Economic Commission for Africa.[3]

In August 2015, the George Washington University announced they had selected Ambassador Brigety for the Dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs. He began serving in that capacity on October 1, 2015.[4]

On February 28, 2020, he was announced as the next Vice-Chancellor and President of The University of the South,[5] a position he began on June 17, 2020.[6] In one of his first actions as Vice Chancellor, Brigety proposed new enforcement measures which were more consistent with the stated preexisting zero-tolerance drug policy. While done with the hope of decreasing cultures of alcohol and drug abuse, this was met with sweeping negative reactions from students and alumni. In response to the concerns raised and conversations with student government, Brigety announced "a moratorium on University student-conduct enforcement related to use and misdemeanor possession of drugs and alcohol until we have a full review of the student code in this regard," in an official email and video posted by the Office of the Vice Chancellor and President.[7] This moratorium does not impact the actions required by federal law.[8] This policy was announced alongside Vice Chancellor Brigety's four themes for what he deemed a "year of discernment." These themes are achieving national preeminence in academics, strengthening commitment to equality and inclusion, increased focus on global citizenship, and the economic development of the Domain to increase amenities.[9]

• Brigety, Reuben E. (2016). "The New Pan-Africanism: Implications for US Africa Policy". Survival. 58 (4): 159–176. doi:10.1080/00396338.2016.1186985.
• Swords and Ploughshares; Sustainable Security in Afghanistan Requires Sweeping U.S. Policy Overhaul (PDF). Center for American Progress. March 2009.
• Ethics/ Technology and the American Way of War: Cruise Missiles and U.S. Security Policy. London: Routledge. 2007. ISBN 9781135986117.
• "Just War Theory and Child Soldiers". Rethinking the Just War Tradition. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. 2007. pp. 131–147. ISBN 9780791471562.
• "Caring for Carthage: Humanity as a Weapon of War" (PDF). PRAXIS: The Fletcher Journal of Human Security. XXI: 88–98. 2006.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the U.S. Department of State website https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/bureau/205064.htm.

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