ASU names new McCain Institute executive director
Former Ambassador Mark Green to head up Washington, D.C.-based organization
The Arizona State University character-driven leadership program based in Washington, D.C., has found a new chieftain.
Mark Green. Photo courtesy of U.S. Agency for International Development.
ASU President Michael M. Crow and board chair Cindy McCain announced Thursday that Ambassador Mark Green will serve as the new executive director of the McCain Institute for International Leadership at ASU’s Barrett and O’Connor Washington Center in the nation’s capital. Green starts his new position on April 20.
“Ambassador Green’s selection continues our unwavering commitment to securing the absolute best talent available,” Crow said. “His leadership style, vision, and global success match up superbly with the ASU Charter.”
Green joins a long line of ambassadors at the McCain Institute, which is named for Arizona Sen. John McCain.
Green was the former administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) since August 2017. His other posts include heading the International Republican Institute, serving as ambassador to Tanzania from 2007 to 2009 and representing Wisconsin in the United States House of Representatives for four terms.
“Character-driven leadership, in America and around the world, has never been more important,” Green said. “At USAID, I helped strengthen our humanitarian and global development tools. At the McCain Institute, I’ll have an opportunity to reinforce the leadership needed to use these and other tools at a critical moment in our history.”
The selection comes after an extensive search facilitated by Korn Ferry and led by Fran Townsend, McCain Institute board member and former homeland security advisor. Cindy McCain, the late senator's widow, applauded the selection.
“Mark Green’s hallmark is inclusive, character-driven leadership that produces remarkable results,” said McCain, board chair of the institute. “I’ve known and admired him for a long time, and am so proud we now get to work with him directly as our executive director. I know my late husband would approve.”
Based in Washington, D.C., as part of ASU since 2012, the McCain Institute is a unique, action-oriented policy institution with major programs that advance character-driven leadership based on security, economic opportunity, freedom and human dignity.
Green holds a law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. In 2012, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science from Georgetown University’s School of Nursing and Health Studies. Two years later, President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania presented him with a special Presidential Certificate of Recognition and Appreciation.
Top photo: The Barrett and O'Connor Washington Center in Washington, D.C. Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now
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