O’Sullivan’s appointment as director will take effect on July 1, 2023; she will continue to serve as the Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at the School. The Belfer Center, which consistently ranks as the world’s top academic think-tank, advances policy-relevant knowledge in the areas of international relations, security, technology, science, and energy and the environment.
“The Belfer Center has been the source of ideas that have changed the course of history,” said O’Sullivan. “I am honored to lead the Center and follow in the footsteps of intellectual giants like Ash Carter and Graham Allison and to work with Belfer’s phenomenal faculty, staff, and students on the world’s toughest problems. I am also grateful for the extraordinary leadership of Eric Rosenbach, who has been the backbone of the Center for many years.”
O’Sullivan will succeed the late Ash Carter and Eric Rosenbach, a lecturer in public policy at the Kennedy School. Carter, the former U.S. Secretary of Defense, served as the Belfer Center’s director from 2017 until his death in October 2022.
“I am delighted that Professor O’Sullivan has agreed to become director of Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center,” said Elmendorf. “She will bring to this new role extraordinary expertise and experience in global affairs as well as a deep commitment to the learning of students at the Kennedy School. I also want to express my gratitude to Eric Rosenbach for all he has done as co-director of the Belfer Center.”
O’Sullivan has taught at Harvard Kennedy School since 2008. Her scholarship on the impact of significant changes in the energy system—from advances in technology to extract oil and gas to the global move away from carbon-intensive fuels—has shaped how policymakers and academics alike view these issues. In addition, she has written widely about the intersection of economic markets and foreign policy in her publications on sanctions.
O’Sullivan has served in multiple senior policymaking roles and has advised national security officials in both Republican and Democratic administrations. She is the recipient of numerous awards for her public service, including the U.S. Defense Department’s highest honor for civilians (the Distinguished Public Service Medal) and the State Department’s Superior Honor Award (which she has received three times).
O’Sullivan is currently a member of U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s Foreign Policy Advisory Board. Between 2004 and 2007, she was special assistant to President George W. Bush and was Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan during the last two years of her tenure. At the National Security Council, she was responsible for formulating and overseeing the implementation of new policy directions in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2013, O’Sullivan served as vice chair of the All Party Talks in Northern Ireland, which sought to resolve outstanding issues in the peace process.
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