Kiron Skinner facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kiron Skinner
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Skinner in 2018
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| 30th Director of Policy Planning | |
| In office September 4, 2018 – August 2, 2019 |
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| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Brian Hook |
| Succeeded by | Peter Berkowitz |
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| Born | 1961 (age 63–64) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Education | Sacramento City College (AA) Spelman College (BA) Harvard University (MA, PhD) |
Kiron Kanina Skinner, born in 1961, is an American expert in politics. She has held important roles in government and at universities. She was the Director of Policy Planning at the United States Department of State during the first Donald Trump presidency.
Currently, Dr. Skinner is a professor at Pepperdine University School of Public Policy. There, she teaches students about national security and how to be good leaders. Before this, she taught at Carnegie Mellon University. She also helped start the Institute for Politics and Strategy at Carnegie Mellon. She is also a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
Dr. Skinner has written books about former President Ronald Reagan. Two of her books, In His Own Hand (2001) and Reagan, a Life in Letters (2003), became bestsellers. In 2005, President George W. Bush chose her to be on the National Security Education Board.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Kiron Skinner was born in Chicago in 1961. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1979, she earned a degree in communications from Sacramento City College.
She won a special scholarship called the Harry S. Truman Scholarship. This scholarship helped her attend Spelman College. At Spelman, she earned a bachelor's degree in political science. Later, she went to Harvard University. There, she earned her master's and doctorate degrees in political science and international relations. While at Harvard, she was taught by Condoleezza Rice, who later became the U.S. Secretary of State.
Academic Career
Dr. Skinner is a professor at the Pepperdine University School of Public Policy. She teaches advanced classes on national security and public leadership. Before Pepperdine, she worked at Carnegie Mellon University. She was the first director of the Institute for Politics and Strategy (IPS) there. She also advised the university on national security policy.
She held several other positions at Carnegie Mellon. She was a distinguished fellow at CyLab. She also had teaching roles in other departments, including the Heinz College and the School of Computer Science. Dr. Skinner has also taught political science at other universities. These include Hamilton College, Harvard University, and the University of California, Los Angeles. At Stanford University's Hoover Institution, she is a research fellow.
In 2021, Dr. Skinner left her role as director of Carnegie Mellon's Institute for Politics and Strategy.
Political Career
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Working with President Bush
In 2004, Dr. Skinner helped President George W. Bush during his re-election campaign. She advised on foreign policy.
Other Government Roles
In 2010, she joined an advisory board for the George W. Bush Oral History Project. She also advised political campaigns. From 2011 to 2012, she was a foreign policy advisor for Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign. Then, she advised Mitt Romney's campaign in 2012. In the same year, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett appointed her to a commission on African American affairs.
Role in the Trump Administration
In 2016, Dr. Skinner was part of President-elect Donald Trump's team for national security. She later became a senior advisor for the State Department. In August 2018, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced her as the new Director of Policy Planning at the U.S. State Department. She officially started this role on September 4, 2018. She also helped coordinate a new group called the Commission on Unalienable Rights.
In April 2019, Dr. Skinner made some comments that got a lot of attention. She said that the competition between the U.S. and China would be very tough. She noted that unlike the Cold War with the Soviet Union, which she called "a fight within the Western family," this was the first time the U.S. would compete with a major power that was "not Caucasian." Some people thought these comments were controversial.
Dr. Skinner's time at the State Department ended in August 2019.
Policy Advice
In 2023, Dr. Skinner helped write a chapter for a book called Mandate for Leadership. This book is published by The Heritage Foundation and suggests policy ideas for a project called Project 2025.
