Dr. Richard D. Hooker, Jr. is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Council, following previous service as University Professor, Distinguished Research Fellow and The Theodore Roosevelt Chair in National Security Affairs at the National Defense University. He rejoined the NDU faculty in July 2018 after service as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Europe and Russia with the National Security Council from April 2017-July 2018. From 2013-2017 he served as Director, Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) at the National Defense University. As a member of the Senior Executive Service, he served as Deputy Commandant and Dean of the NATO Defense College in Rome from September 2010-August 2013. Dr. Hooker is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and holds affiliations as a Senior Research Associate with the Changing Character of War Program at Pembroke College, University of Oxford and as Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Jamestown Foundation.
A former White House Fellow, Dr. Hooker previously taught at the United States Military Academy at West Point and the National War College in Washington, D.C. He also served with the Office of National Service, The White House under President George H.W. Bush, with the Arms Control and Defense Directorate, National Security Council during the Clinton Administration, and with the NSC Office for Iraq and Afghanistan in the administration of George W. Bush. While at the NSC he was a contributing author to The National Security Strategy of the United States.
Following enlisted service as a paratrooper with the 82d Airborne Division, Dr. Hooker graduated with a B.S. from the U.S. Military Academy in 1981 and holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in International Relations from the University of Virginia. He is a Distinguished Graduate of the U.S. National War College, where he earned an M.S. in National Security Studies and also served as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow. His publications include six books and more than sixty articles on national security and foreign relations. Dr. Hooker’s experiences include residence abroad for 13 years and official visits to more than 50 countries.
From 1981-2010 Dr. Hooker served in the United States Army as a parachute infantry officer in the United States and Europe. While on active duty he participated in military operations in Grenada, Somalia, Rwanda, the Sinai, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, including command of a parachute brigade in Baghdad from January 2005 to January 2006. His military service also included tours as Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Senior Aide de Camp to the Secretary of the Army and Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff of the Army. During his career Dr. Hooker was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal (3d award), the Legion of Merit (3d award) and the Bronze Star Medal (3d award). As a civilian he has also been decorated by the Secretary General of NATO, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Polish and Lithuanian governments.