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Date: April 9, 1997
Diplomat and Scholar Robert L. Hutchings
Named Assistant Dean of Woodrow Wilson School
Princeton, N.J. -- Robert L. Hutchings, who has had a distinguished career as a scholar, diplomat, author, and teacher, will join Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs on May 1 as assistant dean for academic affairs. Hutchings brings to the School extensive experience in international relations and European affairs, including service as a special adviser to former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker III and as director of European affairs for the National Security Council, helping to devise strategies that helped bring about the end of the Cold War.
"I'm extremely pleased that Robert Hutchings will be joining us," said Woodrow Wilson School Dean Michael Rothschild. "He brings a valuable blend of insights into the inner workings of government and scholarly expertise. It's a rare combination that works perfectly for the programs and mission of the Woodrow Wilson School. My colleagues and I are looking forward to working with him."
Immediately before joining the Woodrow Wilson School, Hutchings spent four years at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars as a fellow and as a visiting scholar. During his year as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at the Center, he researched and wrote American Diplomacy and the End of the Cold War: An Insider's Account of U.S. Policy in Europe , 1989-92 (Johns Hopkins University Press 1997). As a visiting scholar at the center, with support from a Ford Foundation grant, he directed a book project, End of the American Century? , which will be published by the Wilson Center Press later this year. The project drew together leading thinkers from the academic, policy-making, corporate, and non-profit communities. Hutchings also served as director of international studies, organizing conferences and publications, directing fellowship programs, and supervising projects related to Cold War history and environmental change.
Before joining the Wilson Center in 1993, Hutchings was a key participant in the creation of the strategies that led to the end of the Cold War. As a special adviser to the secretary of state, with the rank of ambassador, his responsibilities included directing a $1 billion U.S. assistance program for Eastern Europe, coordinating the activities of 18 government agencies throughout 13 countries, and serving as the principal U.S. negotiator with foreign governments on assistance issues.
From 1989 to 1992, Hutchings served as the National Security Council's director for European affairs. In that post, he wrote key presidential addresses, drafted and negotiated international agreements, and developed and implemented U.S. policy in Europe during and after the East European revolutions of 1989 and the unification of Germany.
Hutchings has also been an assistant national intelligence officer for Europe, the deputy director and acting director of Radio Free Europe, and a United States naval officer stationed in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. His university appointments include positions as adjunct professor of political science at George Washington University, visiting professor of government at Georgetown University, professorial lecturer at the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, and assistant professor of government and foreign affairs at the University of Virginia.
Hutchings is the author of Soviet-East European Relations: Consolidation and Conflict (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press 1983; revised 1987) and has written numerous articles and book chapters. He has lectured widely on international and political affairs.
A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, he holds an M.A. from the College of William and Mary and a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia.
As assistant dean for academic affairs, Hutchings will oversee the School's new one-year executive education master's degree program, the Master's in Public Policy (MPP). He will work closely with the School's dean and associate dean on developing the graduate program's curriculum, teach one course during the academic year, and teach in the School's summer programs. He will also represent the Wilson School at professional meetings and various events.