Michael Lekson

Michael Lekson "joined USIP’s Professional Training program in 2003 as a program officer following a twenty-six-year career in the Department of State. He is currently the vice president of the program.

"His final position at the Department of State was deputy assistant secretary of state for arms control, overseeing all multilateral arms control negotiations and treaty implementation, for which he received the secretary’s Distinguished Service Award. Prior to that, Lekson was deputy to the special representative of the president and the secretary of state for implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords. He was also director of the Office of European Security and Political Affairs, where he helped develop and implement policies to adapt NATO to the post-Cold War world, and of the Office of United Kingdom, Benelux, and Ireland Affairs, where he worked intensively on the Northern Ireland peace process.

"During his Foreign Service career, Lekson served as a consular officer in Bilbao, Spain, and as a political officer in U.S. embassies in Costa Rica, Peru, and the United Kingdom. He was deputy U.S. representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) during the OSCE’s augmentation of its democracy-building, conflict prevention, and conflict-management efforts in formerly communist countries, especially in the Balkans and Central Asia. Prior to joining the Department of State, he served two years in the Army as a field artillery officer.

"Lekson has an B.A. in English from Princeton University and a master’s in linguistics from Stanford University."