Alumni In The News
Ambassador Zalmay M. Khalilzad, PhD '79
President Bush's choice to become the next United States Ambassador to the United Nations
Zalmay Khalilzad, PhD '79, arrived at International House from the American University of Beirut in 1974 to study Political Science at the University of Chicago. Zalmay, or Zal as he was known to his friends in the House, was a resident floor advisor on the 9th floor and an active member of the Residents' Council, the Speech Committee and the Social Activities Committee.
An ethnic Pashtun, Ambassador Khalilzad was born in the city of Mazari Sharif, in northern Afghanistan. He began his education at the private Ghazi Lycée school in Kabul and attained his bachelor's and master's degrees from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. He received his doctorate at the University of Chicago, where he studied closely with strategic thinker Albert Wohlstetter, a prominent nuclear deterrence thinker and an opponent to the disarmament treaties. From 1979 to 1989, Dr. Khalilzad was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. During this time he worked closely with Zbigniew Brzezinski, the Carter administration's architect of the policy supporting the Afghan Mujahadeen resistance to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. As a policy planner in President Reagan's State Department during the 1980s, Dr. Khalilzad argued that the United States should arm Afghanistan's mujahedeen.
Ambassador Khalilzad was America's first ambassador to Afghanistan. He became known for his ability to weave through warring tribal factions and his ability to quickly get senior Afghan officials on the phone or to summon them to his office, including President Hamid Karzai.
Ambassador Khalilzad is currently the highest-ranking native Afghan and Muslim in the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush. He is the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, having been sworn in on June 21, 2005. On December 4, 2006, it was announced that Ambassador Khalilzad planned to leave his post. On February 12, 2007, the White House submitted Ambassador Khalilzad's nomination to the Senate to become U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. If confirmed to this position, which carries cabinet-level rank, Ambassador Khalilzad would become the first Muslim member of the United States Cabinet.
Alex Dehgan, PhD '03
Wartime conservation biologist
A war zone seems an unlikely place to find a conservation biologist. But for former I-House resident Alex Dehgan, PhD '03, conservation is the most effective strategy in promoting recovery and stability in a region where the majority of people depend on natural resources for survival. "I think this is the path to security. The path to security in Afghanistan and Iraq is not going to be achieved through guns. They depend on natural resources and identify with wildlife. It's an element of who they are." In 2005, Dr. Dehgan received the U.S. State Department's Superior Honor Award for his efforts to rehabilitate the once vital science and engineering culture of Iraq, despite the constant threats to his life. Now in Afghanistan, he is working to protect the country's wildlife. Read the March 6, 2007 New York Times interview with Alex Dehgan on their web site. Photo courtesy New York Times.