David J. Kramer serves as the Executive Director of the George W. Bush Institute. Prior to joining the Institute, he taught at Florida International University’s Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs, where he also was Senior Fellow in the Václav Havel Program for Human Rights and Diplomacy and Director for European and Eurasian Affairs.

Before moving to Miami, Kramer worked in Washington, DC for 24 years, including as Senior Director for Human Rights and Democracy with The McCain Institute for International Leadership; President of Freedom House; and Senior Transatlantic Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Kramer also served eight years in the U.S. Department of State during the George W. Bush administration, including as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs (responsible for Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus affairs as well as regional non-proliferation issues); Professional Staff Member in the Secretary’s Office of Policy Planning; and Senior Advisor to the Undersecretary for Global Affairs. He also was Executive Director of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy in Washington. He is author of the book, Back to Containment: Dealing with Putin’s Regime.

Kramer chairs the board of the Free Russia Foundation and serves on the board of the International Republican Institute. He also serves as a member of the Advisory Council for the Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund of the United States; for Refugees International; for Foreign Policy for America; and is a Contributing Editor at the The American Purpose. A native of Massachusetts, Kramer received his M.A. in Soviet studies from Harvard University and his B.A. in Soviet Studies and Political Science from Tufts University.