Esther Brimmer is an American foreign policy expert and current Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs

Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs

The Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs is the head of the Bureau of International Organization Affairs within the American Department of State that creates and executes policy in international organizations such as the United Nations...

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Education

She received her D.Phil. (Ph. D.) and Master’s degrees in International Relations from the University of Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

, UK, and her B.A. in International Relations from Pomona College

Pomona College

Pomona College is a private, residential, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. Founded in 1887 in Pomona, California by a group of Congregationalists, the college moved to Claremont in 1889 to the site of a hotel, retaining its name. The school enrolls 1,548 students.The founding member...

 in Claremont, California

Claremont, California

Claremont is a small affluent college town in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. The population as of the 2010 census is 34,926. Claremont is known for its seven higher-education institutions, its...

, USA.

Career

Brimmer has served in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 government and in international affairs think tanks. From 1999-2001 she was a Member of the Office of Policy Planning at the U.S. Department of State working on the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

, Western Europe, the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

, and multilateral security issues. From 1995-1999 she managed projects as a Senior Associate at the Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict. She also served as a Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (1993-1995) and as a Legislative Analyst at the Democratic Study Group

Democratic study group

The Democratic Study Group is a legislative service organization in the United States House of Representatives. It was founded in 1959 "as a liberal counterpoint to the influence of senior conservatives and southern Democrats, it now consists of nearly all Democratic members of the House. Its...

 in the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 (1991-1993). From 1989-1991 she was a management consultant

Management consulting

Management consulting indicates both the industry and practice of helping organizations improve their performance primarily through the analysis of existing organizational problems and development of plans for improvement....

 with McKinsey

McKinsey & Company

McKinsey & Company, Inc. is a global management consulting firm that focuses on solving issues of concern to senior management. McKinsey serves as an adviser to many businesses, governments, and institutions...

.

From September 2005 on Brimmer was a visiting professor at the College of Europe

College of Europe

The College of Europe is an independent university institute of postgraduate European studies with the main campus in Bruges, Belgium...

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She was nominated to her present position by United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 President Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 on March 11, 2009, and was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 2, 2009. Previously, Dr. Brimmer served as Deputy Director and Director of Research at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies

Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies

The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies , a division of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., is one of the world's leading and most prestigious graduate schools devoted to the study of international affairs, economics, diplomacy, and policy research and...

 (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

, Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations

Council on Foreign Relations

The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...

 and Women in International Security.

Personal Life

Brimmer is the daughter of Andrew Brimmer

Andrew Brimmer

Andrew Felton Brimmer is a noted economist, academic, and business leader who was the first African American to have served as a governor of the Federal Reserve System.- Early life and education :...

, the first African American to have served as governor of the Federal Reserve System. Her husband is historian and author Steven Beller.

Publications

She has, inter alia, edited Transforming Homeland Security: U.S. and European Approaches (2006), The Strategic Implications of European Union Enlargement (with Fröhlich, 2005), The EU’s Search for a Strategic Role: ESDP and Its Implications for Transatlantic Relations (2002) and The European Union Constitutional Treaty: A Guide for Americans (2004), and she is the author of The United States, the European Union and International Human Rights Issues (2002).