Philip Zelikow Counselor Department of State

Appointment of Philip Zelikow as the Counselor of the Department of State

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today announced the appointment of Philip Zelikow as Counselor of the Department of State.

Though the position has been vacant since 2001, the office of the Counselor is not new, having been part of the Department’s organization since 1909. The Counselor is a principal officer of the Department. As Counselor, Dr. Zelikow will serve as a senior policy advisor on a widerange of issues and will undertake special assignments as directed by the Secretary.

“Philip and I have worked together for years,” Secretary Rice commented, “and I value his counsel and expertise. I appreciate his willingness to take on this assignment.”

Dr. Zelikow has served previously in government, most recently as the Executive Director of the 9/11 Commission. Formerly a trial and appellate attorney in Houston, Zelikow served as a career foreign service officer overseas, in the Department, and on detail to the NSC staff. He then taught at Harvard University and at the University of Virginia, where he was, until his current appointment, the White Burkett Miller Professor of History and Director of the Miller Center of Public Affairs. A former member of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (2001-2003), Dr. Zelikow also directed the privately-sponsored Carter-Ford Commission on Federal Election Reform, which led to the Help America Vote Act of 2002.

Dr. Zelikow received his BA in history from the University of Redlands, his JD from the University of Houston, and his MA and Ph.D. degrees in international law and diplomacy from Tufts University’s Fletcher School.

2005/244 Released on February 25, 2005 Press Statement Richard Boucher, Spokesman
Washington, DC