Ambassador Dennis Ross

Dennis Ross is a counselor and the William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and teaches at Georgetown University’s Center for Jewish Civilization. For more than twelve years, Ambassador Ross played a leading role in shaping U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process, dealing directly with the parties as the U.S. point man on the peace process in both the George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations. He served over two years as special assistant to President Obama, the National Security Council’s senior director for the Central Region, and as the special advisor on Iran to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Ambassador Ross is the author of five books on the peace process, the Middle East, and international relations, most recently “Be Strong and of Good Courage: How Israel’s Most Important Leaders Shaped Its Destiny,” written with David Makovsky. Since leaving the government in 2011, he has authored op-eds in the New York Times, Washington Post, and other publications. He has been awarded the Presidential Medal for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service, along with the State Department’s highest award.