Nancy McEldowney Senior Vice President, National Defense University
Previously, she served as principal deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs and as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Bulgaria. She also served as deputy chief of mission in Ankara, Turkey, and Baku, Azerbaijan. In her last Washington assignment, Ambassador McEldowney served at the White House as director of European affairs on the National Security Council.
McEldowney has also served overseas at the U.S. Embassies in Cairo, Egypt, and Bonn, Germany. In addition, she was a member of the U.S. delegation to the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks with the Soviet Union in Geneva, Switzerland.
Within the Department of State, McEldowney has worked in the Office of Soviet Affairs, the Office of European Security Affairs, the Front Office of the European Bureau, and the Office of the Deputy Secretary. She has also served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon. McEldowney has been granted the State Department’s Superior Honor Award on five occasions. She is also a recipient of the Sinclair Linguistic Award and the National War College’s Distinguished Writing Award.
McEldowney is a member of the Senior Foreign Service. She completed her undergraduate studies at New College and holds graduate degrees from Columbia University and the National Defense University. A native of Florida, McEldowney is married and has two daughters.