Institute Leadership

Ken Blackwell
Chair of the Board
Former Mayor | Cincinnati, Ohio
Former US Ambassador | United Nations Human Rights Commission

Ambassador J. Kenneth "Ken" Blackwell is an author and the president of the Council for National Policy. He has been a visiting professor at both the University of Cincinnati School of Law the Liberty University School of Law, a contributing editor for Townhall.com and a public affairs commentator for the Salem Radio Network. His commentaries have been carried in major newspapers across the US, including USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Investors Business Daily.

Amb. Blackwell is a fellow at the National Academy of Public Administration (2003–present) and an advisor to the America First Policy Institute, the Family Research Council, and the American Constitutional Rights Union. He is a former director of the Academy for Government Accountability and has served on the board of directors of various high-profile organizations including the Club for Growth, the National Taxpayers Union, the National Rifle Association, and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.

Amb. Blackwell has had a vast political career. He was mayor of Cincinnati, treasurer and secretary of the State for Ohio, undersecretary at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, and US Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Amb. Blackwell was a delegate to the White House Summit on Retirement Savings in 1998 and 2002. During the 1990s, he served on the congressionally appointed National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Reform and the board of directors for the International Republican Institute and the American Council of Young Political Leaders.

He has received many awards and honors for his work in the public sector including the US Department of State's Superior Honor Award for his work in the field of human rights, which he received from the administrations of former presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton. In 2004, the American Conservative Union honored Amb. Blackwell with the John M. Ashbrook Award for his steadfast conservative leadership. In 2002, he received meritorious recognition from the Center for Digital Government, and was recognized by Government Technology magazine as one of the top 25 public sector leaders in information technology.

Amb. Blackwell was a founding partner of the highly successful Blue Chip Broadcasting Company, a network of 20 urban format radio stations. At the time of its sale in 2001, Blue Chip Broadcasting had become the second largest African American owned radio company in the nation.

He has been a fellow at Harvard University's Institute of Politics, the Aspen Institute, the Salzburg Seminar in Austria and the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (British-American Project). His continuing education has included executive programs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard. Amb. Blackwell also received honorary doctoral degrees from 10 institutions of higher education. He holds a bachelor of science and a master of education from Xavier University, where he later served as a vice president and member of its faculty. In 1992, he received Xavier's Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Bea Bennett
Philanthropist

Beatrice Bennett is a longtime supporter of Children's Hospital Los Angeles, the Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, Five Acres, Boys and Girls Club, and many schools, including the Colburn School. She was the president of ArtCenter 100 and has been a docent at the Huntington Library. She is a member of Orphanage Guild, the Blue Ribbon, and the Library Foundation.

Yumi Fernandez
Cofounder and Head of International Development | DFNDR Armor

Yumi Fernandez is a strategist and institutional contributor specializing in education, security, and diplomacy. She founded a mentorship initiative in Seoul, South Korea, that guided a cohort of students toward international study, several of whom matriculated at leading universities. She earned her degree in psychology from UCLA, focusing on cognitive science and child development, and has undertaken work across multiple continents. Fluent in Korean and English (conversant in Japanese), she brings nuanced cross‑cultural insight to her roles. As cofounder and head of international development at DFNDR Armor, she oversees deployment of protective technologies and advances strategic global partnerships.

Sara Young Jackson
Chancellor, ex officio | Pepperdine University

As chancellor of Pepperdine University, Jackson leads major initiatives to help strengthen the University's endowment while cultivating meaningful relationships to extend Pepperdine's reach throughout Southern California and around the globe. The chancellor is also a member of the University's senior leadership team and serves as an important advisor to President James A. Gash (JD '93).

A lifelong member of the Pepperdine community and Churches of Christ, Jackson received her first introduction to the University when her father, M. Norvel Young, became its third president in 1957. Throughout the following four decades, the Youngs cultivated the growth of the University, playing instrumental roles in the development of the student body and the move from Pepperdine's original campus location in South Los Angeles to the nationally recognized location in Malibu.

Jackson has continually served Pepperdine University in key leadership roles since 1979. She began her decades-long career at Pepperdine as the assistant director of student life and soon advanced to the director position. Under the leadership of President David Davenport in the late 1980s, she worked with student leaders to design and launch the Pepperdine Volunteer Center, a center where students, staff, and faculty members live out the University mission by engaging in service opportunities and building lasting partnerships within the community. In her role as founding director, Jackson developed the managing board and launched the earliest campus-wide volunteer programs.

Harnessing her background in marriage and family therapy and passion for strengthening families, Jackson collaborated with faculty at the Pepperdine Graduate School of Education and Psychology to establish the Center for the Family, later named for Pat and Shirley Boone, and serve as its executive director. Jackson played a fundamental part in program development, fundraising, and seminar instruction until 2004, when she assumed a key development role for the University as vice chancellor.

In partnership with the University's human resources department and Center for Women in Leadership, Jackson also launched the Women in Leadership Institute at Pepperdine, a development program that nurtures the career and spiritual development of young women leaders through mentorship and fellowship.

As the University's senior vice chancellor, Jackson successfully promoted and advanced Pepperdine initiatives through major-gift fundraising. During her years as a member of the University Board of Regents, Jackson served as the board's liaison for the student life committee. She also managed the Seaver College Board of Visitors.

Jackson holds a bachelor's degree in English from Seaver College and was the recipient of the 2018 Distinguished Alumnus Award. She also holds a master's degree in theology with an emphasis in marriage and family counseling from Fuller Theological Seminary. She and her husband, Sam ('75, EdD '84), are the parents of Jessica ('09), Joseph, and Madeline ('13).

Kay Coles James
Founder, President, and Chair | The Gloucester Institute
Former Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia

Former secretary Kay Coles James has an extensive background in crafting public policy and in leading nearly every sector of America's economy. She is the founder, president, and chair of the Gloucester Institute, a nonprofit that provides professional and leadership training for African American college students and prepares them to be the next generation of our nation's leaders. She is also currently serving on the Board of Visitors of James Madison University, the Miller Center at University of Virginia, and the Forum for America and the World.

She has worked at the local, state, and federal levels of government under the administrations of former US president George H. W. Bush (served twice between 1989 and 1993), secretary of health and human resources under Virginia governor George Allen (1994–1996), and former US president George W. Bush (2001–2005); and she has also served dozens of organizations in the corporate and nonprofit arenas. In 2001, Secretary James was appointed as director of the US Office of Personnel Management by president George W. Bush and led a department of 3,600 employees. As director, she served as the president's principal advisor in matters of personnel administration for the 1.8 million members of the federal civil service and was responsible for the stewardship of more than $650 billion in federal employees' assets. She acted as governor Glenn Youngkin's secretary of the commonwealth, chaired his Transition Committee, then served with the Spirit of Virginia as a senior advisor to Governor Youngkin.

Secretary James has also worked at senior levels in education and the nonprofit world as the chief operating officer of a national organization for mentoring programs and the dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University and served as president of a premier national think tank.

Secretary James is a former board member of PNC Financial Services Group, the National Board of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America, the Magellan Health Services Board, and Amerigroup Corporation. Secretary James is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and has done continuing board education at the Harvard School of Business.

A lifelong Virginian, Secretary James earned her bachelor's degree from Hampton University and lives in Richmond with her husband of over 50 years, Charles. She is the proud mother of three adult children and grandmother of five.

Michelle Kahen
Nonprofit Leader and Child Advocate

Michelle Kahen is a nonprofit leader and child advocate with more than three decades of experience advancing education and literacy for the most underserved and vulnerable populations. Born and raised in Maryland, she began her career directing schools before moving to Los Angeles.

Michelle directed the Jewish Federation's non-sectarian Literacy Program, the Federation's Iranian Leadership and Community Outreach Program, and is the founder of Together Again Montgomery County Schools. She was a member of the inaugural New Ground Muslim-Jewish Fellowship cohort—a Muslim Jewish dialogue group—and was on the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School Facilities Committee that was instrumental in securing the construction of a brand new Malibu High School.

Michelle has collaborated with various organizations dedicated to advancing democracy and freedom in the Middle East and ensuring a secure and thriving Israel. Through this work, she has helped foster dialogue, strengthen civil society, and promote shared values of peace and coexistence.

Linda Law
Real Estate Developer and Investor

Linda Law is a veteran real estate developer, investor, and advisor based in Silicon Valley. She founded Law & Associates in 1983, a pioneering woman-owned firm specializing in institutional-grade development. Over four decades, Law has led complex projects for leading tech firms (including HP, Cisco, and Pixar) and institutions like NASA, Harvard, and Stanford.

A hallmark project was University Circle in East Palo Alto—a major redevelopment that included a Four Seasons Hotel and Class A office space—transforming the city's fiscal outlook. Law has served on the advisory boards of UC Berkeley and Harvard, and on national boards including Susan G. Komen, Singularity University, and the RJC. At the RJC, Law founded and was chair of the Women's National Coalition. Law has done significant fundraising for the RNC.

She holds degrees from UC Berkeley and Harvard. 

Glen Meakem
Founder, Chair, and Chief Executive Officer | FOREVER

Glen Meakem is a technology entrepreneur and business leader. He is currently the founder, chair and chief executive officer of FOREVER, the leading cloud platform for people and families to save, organize, and share their photos, videos, documents, audio files, and stories now and for generations into the future.

Prior to FOREVER, from 2005 through 2012, Meakem was the cofounder and managing partner of Meakem Becker Venture Capital—a top-performing, technology-focused, venture capital firm. Prior to this, from 1995 to 2004, Meakem was the cofounder, chair, and chief executive officer of FreeMarkets, a business-to-business e-commerce company, which he took public on the NASDAQ exchange in a record-setting IPO and then led for five years before merging it into Ariba (which was later sold to SAP). 

Early in his business career, Meakem was a product manager at Kraft, a consultant with McKinsey & Company, and a manager at General Electric, where he served on Jack Welch's staff.  A former officer in the United States Army Reserve, Meakem also volunteered and served as a combat engineer platoon leader in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait during the First Gulf War.  

Meakem has won numerous awards including the Anti-Defamation League's National American Heritage Award, Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Western Pennsylvania, and Syracuse University's Salzberg Medallion for Exceptional Business Achievement. He was also named a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum and was awarded an honorary PhD in business administration by Robert Morris University.  

Meakem currently serves on the board of directors of Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, where he chairs the Investment Committee. He has also served as a trustee on the boards of numerous educational and nonprofit institutions, including Carnegie Mellon University, Grove City College, the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, and the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

Meakem earned his BA cum laude from Harvard University, which he attended on a military scholarship, and his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Gary J. Morgenthaler
Partner | Morgenthaler Ventures

Gary J. Morgenthaler is a partner at Morgenthaler Ventures, entrepreneur, and company builder focused on artificial intelligence, enterprise software, database management systems, and communications infrastructure. He joined Morgenthaler Ventures in 1989 after a decade as cofounder, CEO and chairman of INGRES Corporation, one of the seminal early relational database companies. He later cofounded and served as CEO and chairman of Illustra Information Technologies, an object-relational database company marketing the first commercial implementation of the Postgres research prototype for advanced data management and complex data types. Illustra was acquired by Informix and, later, IBM where its technology became IBM's "Universal Server."

At Morgenthaler Ventures, Gary Morgenthaler helped raise $4 billion of investor capital, led investments in 400 companies, and served as director and chairman of more than 40 companies in 35 years including Siri (acquired by Apple), Nuance, Synopsys, Catena Networks, Nominum, BlueArc, and many others.

Earlier in his career, Morgenthaler worked in software R&D at Stanford University, in systems engineering/management at Tymshare, and as a consultant at McKinsey & Company. He holds a BA from Harvard University. He is frequently invited to speak on the evolution of databases, applied AI/voice interfaces, and building resilient enterprise infrastructure.

Dianne Taube
President and Vice Chair | Taube Family Foundation

Dianne Taube is an American businesswoman and philanthropist, serving as president and vice chair of the Taube Family Foundation, one of California's largest family foundations. She leads philanthropic initiatives that support health and wellness, education and policy research, civic and cultural life, and Jewish heritage in the Bay Area, Poland, and Israel.

Taube also is CEO of Taube Investments, Inc. and managing principal of the real estate business founded by her father, overseeing a portfolio of real estate investment and development operations in her native Northern California.

Taube is widely recognized as a tireless advocate for youth development, a longtime supporter of the arts, a steward of archival preservation, and a champion of democratic principles of liberty, free enterprise, and open inquiry, especially in higher education. She has also led humanitarian relief efforts in response to natural disasters, including wildfires in Hawaii and California.

Luisa Blanco
Professor of Public Policy
Pepperdine University School of Public Policy

Luisa Blanco is an economist specializing in economic development and international economics, with a focus on improving the well-being of Latin Americans both domestically and abroad. Blanco’s research specific to the Latin American region explores institutions, democracy, crime, capital flows, inequality, and natural resources, and has been published in leading journals such as World Development and the Journal of Development Studies. She also leads community-based research projects that promote economic inclusion and improved health outcomes, often using digital technology to increase access to information and encourage behavioral change. She is codirector of the Analysis Core at the University of California, Los Angeles’ Center for Health Innovation and Maximizing Eldercare, a National Bureau of Economic Research research affiliate, G53 Financial Literacy and Personal Finance Research Network research associate, and a 2025 research fellow at the Julian Bond Institute. Blanco has held visiting appointments with the Federal Reserve of Minneapolis, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Oxford University, and has been a consultant for the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. She holds a BA and an MBA from Midwestern State University and a PhD in economics from the University of Oklahoma.

Robert Kaufman
Robert and Katheryn Dockson Professor of Public Policy
Pepperdine University School of Public Policy

Robert G. Kaufman is a political scientist specializing in American foreign policy, national security, international relations, and various aspects of American politics.

Kaufman has written frequently for scholarly journals and popular publications, including The Weekly Standard, Policy Review, The Washington Times, the Baltimore Sun, The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and Lifezette. He is the author of four books, including his most recent, Dangerous Doctrine: How Obama's Grand Strategy Weakened America (2016). His other publications include In Defense of the Bush Doctrine; a biography; Henry M. Jackson: A Life in Politics, which received the Emil and Katherine Sick Award for the best book on the history of the Pacific Northwest; and Arms Control During the Pre-Nuclear Era. Kaufman also assisted President Richard M. Nixon in the research and writing of Nixon's final book, Beyond Peace.

Kaufman is a former Bradley Scholar and current adjunct scholar at the Heritage Foundation. He has taught at Colgate University, the Naval War College, and the University of Vermont.

Jessica Hooten Wilson
Fletcher Jones Chair of Great Books | Pepperdine University

Jessica Hooten Wilson is the Fletcher Jones Chair of Great Books at Pepperdine University. She is the author or editor of nine books, two of which have won Christianity Today book of the year awards in arts and culture, including The Scandal of Holiness and Reading for the Love of God. She also is the recipient of the Midwest Publishers Association Silver Award, the Hiett Prize in Humanities, the Emerging Public Intellectual Award, a Fulbright Fellowship, an NEH Summer Award, and a host of other honors. She is a Senior Fellow of the Trinity Forum.

Kaush Arha
President | Free and Open Indo-Pacific Forum

Kaush Arha is a leading architect of Free and Open Spaces strategy and a pioneer in the field of tech diplomacy. He is the author of the trusted connectivity framework, advancing resilient global supply chains and reoriented economic relations. His work focuses on strengthening Quad Plus economic and security architecture in the Indo-Pacific; fostering US-India Great Power Partnership; framing a global economic security quad of US-EU-Japan-India; advancing Indo-Mediterranean partnerships through IMEC and 3SI; reframing US-Europe engagement with Africa; fostering integrated Arctic-Baltic cooperation through a Free North stratagem; promoting the strategic importance of a free and open Black Sea to stabilize Central Asia–Caucasus–Europe engagement; facilitating a sub-national partnership between American Western States and Western Australia for defense-energy-minerals coordination; and advocating for a Japan-ASEAN-Australia-India Economic Corridor.

Arha has served in senior roles under the Trump and Bush administrations, including as G7 sherpa for quality infrastructure, and as a senior diplomat in Kabul during the Obama administration. A regular commentator on global economic, political, and security affairs, he holds a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, and a law degree from Stanford University.

Russell Berman
Walter A. Haas Professor in the Humanities | Stanford University
Senior Fellow | Hoover Institution

Russell Berman is the Walter A. Haas Professor in the Humanities at Stanford and Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution where he co-directs the Working Group on the Middle East and the Islamic World. During the first Trump administration, he served as senior advisor on the Policy Planning Staff of the US Department of State with a focus on transatlantic relations and as a member of the Commission on Inalienable Rights. He was appointed and confirmed by the Senate to the National Humanities Council, where he continues to serve. He has particular interests in US foreign policy regarding Europe and the Middle East, grand strategy, and cultural politics.

Berman has received numerous honors, including fellowships from Harvard and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, as well as the Federal Service Cross of Germany. His award-winning books include The Rise of the Modern German Novel: Crisis and Charisma and Enlightenment or Empire: Colonial Discourse in German Culture, alongside titles like Anti-Americanism in Europe: A Cultural Problem, Fiction Sets You Free: Literature, Liberty and Western Culture, and Freedom or Terror: Europe Faces Jihad. He has edited translations of Ernst Jünger and Carl Schmitt and published widely in both scholarly journals and public forums. His commentary has appeared in The Hill, Politico, Tablet, and First Things, among others.

Berman has served in numerous administrative capacities at Stanford, where he directed the Overseas Studies Program as well as major programs in general education. For 15 years he was the editor of Telos, a journal of critical theory, and he served as the 2011 president of the Modern Language Association.

James Jay Carafano
National Security and Foreign Policy Expert

James Jay Carafano is a leading expert in America's national security and foreign policy challenges and a prolific author and frequent media commentator. He was formerly the Washington-based Heritage Foundation's vice president for foreign and defense policy studies and director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies.

Carafano is a 25-year army veteran who rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel and served in Europe, Korea, and the US. He holds a master's degree and a doctorate from Georgetown University, as well as a master's degree in strategy from the US Army War College. He was a visiting professor at the National Defense University and Georgetown University as well as other institutions. He previously served as an assistant professor at the US Military Academy in West Point, New York, and as director of military studies at the army's Centre of Military History. He was a fleet professor at the US Naval War College.

Mario Duarte
President and CEO | Project Dynamo
Former Secretary of Strategic Intelligence of Guatemala

Mario Duarte is the former secretary of strategic intelligence of Guatemala, serving from 2016 to 2020 as the youngest and longest-tenured official to hold the post. He is president and CEO of Project Dynamo, a US-based, veteran-led nonprofit that rescues Americans and allies from war zones and crisis areas worldwide, and CEO and co-founder of DH Global Strategy, a lobbying and intelligence consulting firm operating in the US and Latin America.

A US and Guatemalan dual citizen, Duarte holds degrees from the University of Houston, Rice University, and Spain's Ortega y Gasset Institute, with additional national security studies in Taiwan, Israel, and Guatemala. He previously served in the US Army and Reserves, directed intelligence at Guatemala's National Security Council, and worked in technology, aviation security, and defense consulting. Widely recognized for his leadership in intelligence and national security, Duarte is a published author and frequent media commentator on geopolitics and security issues.

Manuel Espina
Senior Advisor | Continental Strategy

Manuel Espina serves as a senior advisor at Continental Strategy, bringing extensive expertise in bilateral relations across Guatemala and Central America. He served as Guatemala's ambassador to the US from 2017 to 2019, earning the country's highest honor, the Order of the Quetzal, for his distinguished service.

For more than a decade, Espina has built strong relationships with US senators and Congress members, giving him significant influence in his country and the region. His business acumen makes him a key player in strengthening commercial and diplomatic ties between Guatemala and the United States.

Since 2013 he has organized the National Prayer Breakfast in Guatemala after attending the Washington, DC, event in 2006. In 2019,he became the first Central American representative to speak at the Washington gathering. He is also a professor of diplomacy at Columbia International University and a former board member of the institution.

Espina is the founder of Guatemala Próspera, a nonprofit dedicated to cultural transformation through values-based leadership. In collaboration with John C. Maxwell, more than 3.5 million people have participated in the organization's Transformational Leadership Programs nationwide.

Zachary G. Freeman
CEO and Principal | Imperial

Zachary G. Freeman is the CEO and Principal at Imperial, a global political affairs firm that serves a wide range of clients, including royalty, government officials, economic interest organizations, political campaigns, and corporate interests in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and South America.

Prior to the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Freeman worked alongside Pepperdine University's Taube Family Chair of International Relations and Politics at the School of Public Policy, Dr. Kiron Skinner, and now-Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau on the State Department Policy Planning team at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C.

Freeman sits on the Board of Directors for the Institute of American-British Relations, and is active within the UK political space, advising former prime ministers, current ministers and members of parliament, and other NGOs that focus on improving the Special Relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.

Derek Harvey
Analyst and Global Policy Advisor

Derek Harvey, Colonel, USA (retired), is an internationally recognized analyst and global policy advisor with more than 30 years of experience in security, terrorism, economic, religious, and political issues. He served as a top advisor to four commanders in Iraq and held senior roles on Capitol Hill and the National Security Council (NSC) under president Donald Trump. In Congress, Harvey led investigations into Chinese influence, espionage, and threats to US economic security, authoring key reports on COVID-19 and China's military ambitions.

At the NSC, Harvey helped advance Middle East peace, coordinated the US response to the Qatar-Saudi dispute, and shaped policy on Jerusalem and the Iran Nuclear Deal. Harvey previously directed the Afghanistan-Pakistan Center of Excellence and is known for his early warnings about the rise of ISIS.

Harvey has been an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland and Central Texas College and a fellow at Carnegie Mellon University. As a professor and the director of the Global Initiative for Civil Society and Conflict at the University of South Florida, he focused on developing knowledge and insights in a socio-cultural-political context to inform smarter decision-making. Harvey has spoken at the Council of Foreign Relations, Council of American Ambassadors, World Affairs Council and Senate Armed Services Committee and is a regular commentator in national media on global security issues.

Romain Murenzi
Professor of Physics | Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Romain Murenzi joined Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2024 as a professor of physics. Murenzi’s research spans wavelets, groups, phase-space representations, coherent states, and the links between quantum physics and multidimensional signal processing. His work includes science, technology, and innovation policy for sustainable development, and science diplomacy and government advice.

Murenzi served the World Academy of Sciences from 2011 to June 2016, and again from September 2017 to 2023, where he served as executive director of TWAS, a UNESCO program dedicated to advancing science in developing countries. He also oversaw the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World and the InterAcademy Partnership. He previously held senior government positions in Rwanda, including minister of Education, Science, Technology, and Scientific Research, and minister in the President’s Office in Charge of Science and Technology, followed by service as a senior scholar and director of the Center for Science, Tehcnology, and Sustainable Government at the American Association for the Advancement of Science During this period, he was also a visiting professor at the University of Maryland Institute of Advanced Computer Studies and in the physics department at Howard University.

Murenzi holds degrees from the University of Burundi, the Catholic University of Louvain, and the University of Strathclyde.

Keith Rothfus
Former US Representative | Pennsylvania

Keith Rothfus has extensive experience in government, law, and academia. From 2013 to 2019, he represented western Pennsylvania in the US House of Representatives, serving on the Financial Services and Judiciary Committees. His legislative work included regulatory relief for community financial institutions, expanding consumer choice for Medicare seniors, and addressing the opioid crisis. Earlier, during the George W. Bush administration, he established the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at the Department of Homeland Security.

A graduate of Notre Dame Law School, Rothfus practiced law in Pittsburgh, focusing on internet law and commercial transactions, and later served as associate dean at Regent University Law School, overseeing its accreditation with the American Bar Association. Today, he contributes through board service, nonprofit work, political advising, fundraising, and public speaking. He and his wife, Elsie, are the proud parents of six children.

Joseph Schneider
National Security Strategist and Entrepreneur

Joseph Schneider emigrated from Communist Romania to the United States at age twelve and went on to serve 17 years in the US Army, including as a Green Beret officer in two Special Forces Groups. A graduate of West Point, he later earned an MBA from Harvard Business School, conducted post-graduate studies at the Harvard Kennedy School, and earned an MA in international relations from the University of Southern California.

In 1981 he founded JSA International, later acquired by EDS and merged with AT Kearney, and in 1997 re-established JSA Partners, focusing on strategy and M&A for aerospace, defense, and security industries. Schneider has advised the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Defense Science Board, and major primes, private equity firms, and technology start-ups, with about half the practice of his firm supporting international clients. He has served on the boards of public and private defense companies, co-founded JSA Research, and was a Republican congressional candidate in Massachusetts.

Abraham Sofaer

George P. Shultz Senior Fellow Emeritus | Hoover Institution

Abraham Sofaer is the George P. Shultz Senior Fellow Emeritus at Stanford's Hoover Institution. His 30 years at Stanford have been devoted to international policy and legal issues. He served as legal adviser to the US Department of State for five years, from 1985 to 1990.

Before that he was a US District Judge in the Southern District of New York for six years after teaching at the Columbia University School of Law from 1969 to 1979. He clerked for Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. on the US Supreme Court and was the honor graduate of his law school class at NYU. He spent more than three years in the US Air Force before attending Yeshiva College, from which he graduated in 1962.

He was born in Bombay, India, and immigrated to the US at the age of 14. He is married with six children and lives in Palo Alto, California.

Elizabeth Spalding
Senior Fellow | Pepperdine University School of Public Policy
Visiting Fellow | Hillsdale College Van Andel School of Government

Based in Washington, DC, Elizabeth Spalding is Senior Fellow at Pepperdine University's School of Public Policy and Visiting Fellow at Hillsdale College's Van Andel School of Government. She is Chairman of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and Founding Director of the Victims of Communism Museum. She also serves on the board of the Institute on Religion and Democracy and the advisory board of the University of Austin's Center for Education and Public Service.

Spalding teaches and lectures on presidential leadership, religion and politics, comparative ideologies, US foreign policy, the Cold War, and national security. She is the author of The First Cold Warrior: Harry Truman, Containment, and the Remaking of Liberal Internationalism and co-author of A Brief History of the Cold War. Her scholarship and commentary appear widely in academic and popular outlets. She holds a Ph.D. in international politics and political theory from the University of Virginia.

Joshua Steinman
Senior Fellow | Pepperdine University School of Public Policy
Visiting Fellow | Hillsdale College Van Andel School of Government

Joshua Steinman is a former naval officer turned entrepreneur. From 2017 to 2021 he served at the White House on the National Security Council Staff as deputy assistant to the president and senior director for cyber. In that role he coordinated all cyber, telecommunications, cryptocurrency, and supply chain policy on behalf of the president across the United States government. He is now the cofounder of Galvanick, an industrial control systems cybersecurity company.

Patrick Etcheverry
Student
Pepperdine Caruso School of Law

Patrick Etcheverry (MS '22) is a first-year law student at the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law. Originally from Florida, he earned a BA in political science from the University of Houston and an MS in real estate from the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School. Patrick has remained an active member of the Pepperdine community, most recently serving on the staff of the School of Public Policy. His interests lie at the intersection of policy and law, and he is well-versed in civics, urban planning, international relations, theology, and art.

Noah Shifter
Student | Pepperdine Seaver College

Noah Shifter is a junior at Seaver College studying economics and global politics. His interests lie in the exchange between economics and global politics, especially in innovation, trade policy, and cybersecurity.

Alexa Borstad
Strategic Communications Specialist | Pepperdine University

Alexa Borstad is a strategic communications specialist at Pepperdine University, where she advances the institution's mission through research, creative direction, editorial content, social media, alumni engagement, and brand storytelling. She also produces and co-hosts PeppTalk, Pepperdine's flagship podcast, leading conversations of personal and global significance with faculty, students, and distinguished thought leaders.

Specializing in narratives at the intersection of education, theology, and human flourishing, Alexa has developed communication strategies for major initiatives including the President's Speaker Series, the Boone Center for the Family, the Alumni Lifelong Learning Initiative, the Waves Discovery Project, and the Hub for Spiritual Life.

A cum laude graduate of Pepperdine's Seaver College with a degree in honors political science and a Great Books minor, Alexa served as president of the Federalist Society, cofounded The Pepperdine Beacon, and was an ISI Honors Scholar. She is passionate about advancing lifelong learning and Christian higher education.

Ian Ermatinger-Salas
Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations | Pepperdine University

Ian Ermatinger-Salas serves as the director of corporate and foundation relations at Pepperdine University, where he serves as a trusted partner for faculty, staff, and stakeholders to identify and attain philanthropic support for key initiatives across the institution. A member of the Office of Research, Grants, and Foundation Relations—a division of the Office of the Provost—Ermatinger-Salas sits at the intersection of academic affairs and institutional advancement efforts, positioning him to provide holistic strategic insight throughout the conceptualization, resource acquisition, and implementation of new and continuing enterprises.

In addition to more than a decade of experience working in higher education philanthropy, Ermatinger-Salas earned master's degrees in philanthropic studies from Indiana University's Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and in political science and international relations (focusing on American politics and international security and foreign policy) from the University of Southern California's Dornsife College of Arts and Science.

Michael Friel
Senior Director of Communications and Public Relations | Pepperdine University

Michael Friel serves as the senior director of communications and public relations at Pepperdine University, where he leads messaging strategy, editorial, media strategy, social media, alumni communications, and crisis communication efforts that advance Pepperdine's mission as a premier global Christian university.

Friel previously served as vice president of media communications at Alliance Defending Freedom, a leading nonprofit legal organization focused on First Amendment freedoms, the sanctity of life, and parental rights. In that role, he oversaw communication strategy, media relations, and narrative development for high-profile litigation and legislative priorities with national impact.

Previously, Friel served in public affairs leadership roles at US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), including as director of media relations, deputy assistant commissioner, and acting assistant commissioner. At CBP, he directed global public affairs operations, managed crisis communications, and served as the agency's principal spokesperson on border security, international trade and travel operations, and policy issues.

Friel began his career in communication as a commissioned officer in the United States Marine Corps, serving on active duty from 1999 to 2004. A combat veteran, he deployed to Baghdad, Iraq, in 2003 as a public affairs officer for coalition headquarters during Operation Iraqi Freedom. For his service, Friel was awarded a Bronze Star Medal and Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal.

Friel earned a bachelor's degree in communication studies from Westmont College. He completed the Executive Fellows Program at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, completed the Public Affairs Officer Course at the Defense Information School, and completed the Defense Department's strategic communication course at the University of Oklahoma.

Lena Pacifici
Director of Marketing and Communications | Pepperdine University School of Public Policy and College of Health Science

Lena Pacifici brings expertise in strategic communications and brand development to her role as director of marketing and communications for the Pepperdine University School of Public Policy and, as a testament to her leadership and commitment to excellence, the University's new College of Health Science. During her time at Pepperdine, Pacifici has led initiatives that have elevated the University's visibility on both the national and international stage. She directed the launch of the widely viewed video series Office Hours with Victor Davis Hanson, coordinated communications for numerous high-profile events and conferences featuring prominent speakers and thought leaders, and optimized marketing campaigns—both digital and traditional—achieving high-lead generation in the enrollment marketing space.

Pacifici's professional background spans political and policy communications, including service as field director for a California congressional campaign and as program administrator for Colorado's Centennial Institute, where she oversaw social media strategy, platform marketing, and large-scale event coordination, including the annual Western Conservative Summit. She also previously interned for US senator Ted Cruz, focusing on public relations and operations, and contributed as an editorial intern for The Daily Wire, where her writing was regularly published.

Pacifici graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in politics from Colorado Christian University, where she helped cultivate an environment for policy-based dialogue through the American Enterprise Institute.