Graham Allison
Graham Allison is the Douglas Dillon Professor of Government at Harvard University where he has taught for five decades. Allison is a well-known political scientist and a leading analyst of national security with special interests in nuclear weapons, Russia, China, and decision-making. He is known for his contributions in the late 1960s and early 1970s to the bureaucratic analysis of decision making, especially during times of crisis.He was the Founding Dean of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and served as Director of its Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, which was ranked the “#1 University Affiliated Think Tank” in the world. Under his leadership, the Kennedy School has also grown from a small, undefined program twenty-fold to become a major professional school of public policy and government. Allison has also served as Assistant Secretary of Defense and advised the Secretaries of Defense under every president from Reagan to Obama.
Graham Allison Professional Experience / Academic History
Professional Experience
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Douglas Dillon Professor of Government
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Founding Dean and Director
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Founding Dean
Academic History
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Ph.D., Political Science
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B.A., M.A., Philosophy, Politics and Economics
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B.A., History, Magna cum Laude
GOVERNMENT CAREER
Allison was Assistant Secretary of Defense in the first Clinton Administration and Special Advisor to the Secretary of Defense under President Reagan.
He has been a member of the Secretary of Defense’s Advisory Board for every Secretary from Weinberger to Mattis.
He has the sole distinction of having twice been awarded the Distinguished Public Service Medal, first by Secretary Cap Weinberger and second by Secretary Bill Perry.
He has served on the Advisory Boards of the Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, and the Director of the CIA.
EARLY CAREER
Over the course of his tenure as Dean of the Harvard Kennedy School, the organization increased in size by 400% and its endowment by 700%.
He was the organizer of the Commission on America's National Interests, a founding member of the Trilateral Commission, a Director of the Council on Foreign Relations.
He has served as a Director of the Getty Oil Company, Natixis, Loomis Sayles, Hansberger, Taubman Centers, Inc., Joule Unlimited, and Belco Oil and Gas, as well as a member of the Advisory Boards of Chase Bank, Chemical Bank, Hydro-Quebec, and the International Energy Corporation.
Heavily involved in U.S. defense policy, he has also been an advisor and consultant to The Pentagon in the 1960s and has been a consultant for the RAND Corporation.
BOOKS
Allison co-authored the book Remaking Foreign Policy (1976) with Peter L. Szanton which influenced the foreign policy of the Carter administration.
His book, Destined (2017), is a national and international bestseller. His 2013 book, Lee Kuan Yew, has been a bestseller in the U.S. and abroad.
His book Nuclear Terrorism was selected by the New York Times as one of the "100 most notable books of 2004."
His first book, Essence of Decision (1971), ranks among the all-time bestsellers with more than 500,000 copies in print.