C. S. Eliot Kang, Ph.D., serves as ISN’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary. He served previously as Acting Assistant Secretary from January 2017 to January 2018 and January to June 2009. He also exercised the authorities of the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security from January 2017 to January 2018. From September 2011 to December 2016, he was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Affairs; from June 2009 to September 2011, he was Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary. Before that, he was ISN’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Threat Reduction, Export Controls, and Negotiations; he also served as the bureau’s Special Adviser for North Korean Denuclearization. In preparation for the February 2015 Diplomatic Conference for the Convention on Nuclear Safety, President Obama accorded Dr. Kang the personal rank of ambassador.
Dr. Kang joined the State Department in 2003 and served in the Political-Military Affairs Bureau and the Arms Control Bureau. A former tenured professor, he taught international security at the University of Pennsylvania and Northern Illinois University and has held fellowships at the Council on Foreign Relations and the Brookings Institution. His writings have appeared in such publications as International Organization, World Affairs, and Comparative Strategy.
Dr. Kang received his Ph.D. from Yale University. He also studied at Princeton University and received his A.B., summa cum laude, from Cornell University. His professional background includes working as an investment banker specializing in corporate finance and mergers & acquisitions for Dillon, Read & Co., Inc. He was elected to life membership in the Council on Foreign Relations in 2002.