Susan Elliott

At Ford School, Ambassador Elliott participated at events on Media, Information, and the U.S. Russia Relationship in a conversation with Dr. Yevgenia Albats and Ambassador Melvyn Levitsky, hosted a seminar and advised students.

Ambassador (retired) Susan M. Elliott is President & CEO of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, a position she assumed in August 2018. Ambassador Elliott is an accomplished diplomat who held a variety of leadership positions at the U.S. Department of State during her 27 year career as a Foreign Service officer. 

From 2015 to 2017, Ambassador Elliott served as the Civilian Deputy and Foreign Policy Advisor to the Commander of the United States European Command.  Ambassador Elliott was the U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan from 2012 to 2015.  Prior to her Ambassadorial appointment, she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, U.S. Department of State.

Ambassador Elliott worked in a variety of overseas and Washington-based assignments.  Her previous overseas assignments include Moscow, Russia (twice); Belfast, Northern Ireland; Athens, Greece; and Lima, Peru.   In Washington, Ambassador Elliott worked on the staff of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.  Earlier in her career she reported on conflicts in the countries of the former Soviet Union when she worked in the Office of the Coordinator for Regional Conflicts in the New Independent States.

Educational background

Doctor of Nursing Science; Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana

Master of Science Russell Sage College, Troy, New York

Bachelor of Science; Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York

Economic and Commercial Training; (Master’s Degree Equivalent); Foreign Service Institute; Arlington Virginia

Professional affiliations

President and CEO at National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP); New York, NY