Dr. Kurt M. Campbell is Chairman and Co-Founder of The Asia Group and recently served as the 22nd U.S. Deputy Secretary of State. He played a pivotal role in modernizing the State Department and advancing U.S. diplomacy. From 2021 to 2024, he was the White House’s inaugural Indo-Pacific Coordinator, shaping strategic policy across the region, strengthening alliances, and managing critical relationships, including with China and India. He was instrumental in launching AUKUS and deepening U.S.-Japan-Korea trilateral cooperation.
A leading voice on Indo-Pacific strategy, Dr. Campbell has spent nearly four decades in government, academia, the military, and the private sector. He previously served as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (2009–2013), where he was a key architect of the “Pivot to Asia.” He began his career in the U.S. Navy Reserves and taught at Harvard’s Kennedy School.
Dr. Campbell holds degrees from UC San Diego, Oxford (as a Marshall Scholar), and the University of Erevan. He has received top diplomatic honors from the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and other allies. He and his wife have three daughters, and reside in Washington, DC and Rappahannock County, VA.