Jake Sullivan is the Kissinger Professor of the Practice of Statecraft and World Order at the Harvard Kennedy School and a Senior Fellow at the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire. He was the 28th Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (National Security Advisor) from January 2021 to January 2025. In the Obama Administration, he served as National Security Advisor to then-Vice President Biden, Director of the Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State, and Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
In the years between government service, Sullivan was a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he helped conceive a bipartisan task force project on a foreign policy for the middle class. He held teaching posts at the University of New Hampshire, Dartmouth College, and Yale Law School. And he co-founded and co-chaired the advisory board for National Security Action.
He holds a B.A. in political science and international studies from Yale College; a M.Phil in International Relations from Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar; and a J.D. from Yale Law School. He clerked for Justice Stephen Breyer of the Supreme Court of the United States. He grew up as the second of five children in Minneapolis, Minnesota and is a proud product of the Minneapolis public schools. He lives with his wife, Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander, in New Hampshire.
Courses
Transparent Engagement
Harvard Kennedy School is proud of its energetic involvement in the world. To better understand how to solve public problems by improving policy and leadership, we engage directly with policymakers, public leaders, governments, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit businesses whose activities affect those problems. However, we recognize that such engagement can raise questions about perceived and potential conflicts of interest, so we disclose publicly the key professional activities of our faculty outside the Kennedy School. The activities disclosed below are for the most recent reporting period, as defined by University policy. Some may be paid, some may be unpaid, and others may be in exchange for expense reimbursement only.
Outside Professional Activities For Jake Sullivan
| Organization | Relationship |
|---|---|
| AIM Summit LLC | Speaking engagement, invited lecture, or presentation |
| CVC Capital Partners | Reimbursed travel |
| CVC Capital Partners | Speaking engagement, invited lecture, or presentation |
| Dartmouth College | Reimbursed travel |
| DE Shaw | Consulting |
| Foreign Policy for America | Membership on a scientific or other advisory board |
| Institute for Human Sciences, Vienna, Austria | Reimbursed travel |
| Institute for Human Sciences, Vienna, Austria | Speaking engagement, invited lecture, or presentation |
| Jackson School of Global Affairs, Yale University | Membership on a scientific or other advisory board |
| MEAD Summit | Reimbursed travel |
| Morgan Stanley | Reimbursed travel |
| Morgan Stanley | Speaking engagement, invited lecture, or presentation |
| Signum Global Advisors | Speaking engagement, invited lecture, or presentation |
| UNH Carsey School of Public Policy | Membership on a scientific or other advisory board |
| Welsh Carson Anderson and Stowe | Speaking engagement, invited lecture, or presentation |