Staff

Kurt Volker

Executive Director

Kurt Volker is Executive Director of the McCain Institute for International Leadership, part of Arizona State University.   He served as U.S. Ambassador to NATO in 2008-2009.  ...

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Ben Freakley

Senior Advisor

Lieutenant General Benjamin C. Freakley serves as the Professor of practice of Leadership for Arizona State University and as a Special Advisor to ASU President Michael Crow for Leadership...

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Brian Gallian

Program Coordinator

Brian Gallian is the Program Coordinator for the McCain Institute for International Leadership. Prior to joining, he was an intern for the Institute collaborating on a variety of different projects...

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Meghan Latcovich

Director of Communications

Meghan Latcovich is the Director of Communications and Programming at the McCain Institute. Before joining the Institute team, she was Chief of Staff for Cindy McCain. She travelled extensively...

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Claire Sechler Merkel

Director of Arizona Initiatives

Claire Sechler Merkel is the Director of Arizona Initiatives for the McCain Institute for International Leadership, a part of Arizona State University. She served as Director of Friends and Family and...

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Jane Mosbacher Morris

Director of Humanitarian Action

Jane Mosbacher Morris is the Director of Humanitarian Action for the McCain Institute for International Leadership.  Prior to joining the McCain Institute, she spent over five years at the United...

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Michael C. Polt

Senior Director

Ambassador Polt assumed his new position as Senior Director of the Institute on October 1, 2012, after concluding his 35-year diplomatic career and following his most recent assignment as Ambassador...

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Rebecca Schneider

Chief of Staff

Rebecca Schneider serves as the Chief of Staff to Ambassador Kurt Volker at The McCain Institute for International Leadership. Schneider manages the staff and oversees office operations, in addition...

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Stephen Wong

Administrative and Program Assistant

Stephen P. Wong joined the McCain Institute as Administrative and Program Assistant in November 2012. In this capacity he supports the Senior Director for Leadership Programs and the Director of...

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McCain Institute Fellows

Magor Ernyei

International Research Fellow

Mr. Ernyei is an international lawyer from Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. As a law student his research focused on the legal limits imposed by international law on self-defence against...

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Ieva Pundina

International Research Fellow

Ms. Pundiņa is a lawyer and a diplomat who has worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia since 2007. Ms. Pundina’s expertise is in European Union policy issues, decision-making at the...

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