Johns Hopkins SAIS names Paula G. Thornhill Associate Director of the Strategic Studies Program
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) has named Paula G. Thornhill Associate Director of the Strategic Studies program. She will also serve as an Associate Professor of the Practice of Strategic Studies. Thornhill has served as an adjunct professor since 2011 and will join in the Associate Director role in October.
“It is a great privilege to join the legendary strategic studies program at Johns Hopkins SAIS. What Eliot Cohen, Mara Karlin, the strategic studies faculty, alumni, and students have built and sustained is truly remarkable,” said Thornhill. They’ve brought academic rigor and policy relevance together in a way no other university program in America can match. It’s such an honor to join their ranks in this full-time capacity.”
Thornhill currently serves as a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation and director of the Strategy and Doctrine Program within RAND Project AIR FORCE. A former U.S. Air Force brigadier general, Thornhill was the first female commandant of the Air Force Institute of Technology. Prior to her time as commandant, Thornhill served as the principal director for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. She also taught at the U.S. Air Force Academy and was assigned to the Air Staff, the Joint Staff, U.S. Strategic Command, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
“Professor Thornhill epitomizes the very best of scholar-practitioners, said Director of Strategic Studies Mara Karlin. “She brings to the classroom a wealth of experience from her successful military career, her rigorous and thoughtful record of analysis, and her well-respected reputation across the defense community. She has been a member of the school’s Strategic Studies community for nearly a decade and having her join the team full-time shows that it will remains the top program in its field for a very long time.”
"Professor Thornhill has, in addition to her numerous other achievements, a stellar teaching record at Johns Hopkins SAIS,” said Dean Eliot A. Cohen. “Her leadership skills and experience will enhance not only our best-in-class Strategic Studies program, but our strong connections to the American and to allied military establishments."
Thornhill earned a bachelor’s degree in History from the U.S. Air Force Academy, master’s degrees in Strategic Studies and History from the National War College and Stanford University, respectively, and a doctoral degree in History from Oxford University. She has served as the dean of Faculty and Academic Programs at the National War College and as special assistant to the 15th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard B. Myers, U.S. Air Force.
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About Johns Hopkins SAIS
A division of Johns Hopkins University, the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a global institution that offers students an international perspective on today's critical issues. For 75 years, Johns Hopkins SAIS has produced great leaders, thinkers, and practitioners of international relations. Public leaders and private sector executives alike seek the counsel of the faculty, whose ideas and research inform and shape policy. Johns Hopkins SAIS offers a global perspective across three campus locations: Bologna, Italy; Nanjing, China; and Washington, D.C. The school's interdisciplinary curriculum is strongly rooted in the study of international economics, international relations, and regional studies, preparing students to address multifaceted challenges in the world today. For more information, visit sais.jhu.edu or on Twitter @SAISHopkins
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