Kelly Adams-Smith began her assignment at the National Defense University in July 2019. Her last overseas assignment was as Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d'Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Prague, Czech Republic from 2016-2019. Before that she served as Economic Counselor at the U.S. Mission in London, UK, where she and her team covered all aspects of Brexit. Her other overseas tours include Chief of Political and Economic Affairs in Sofia, Bulgaria; Economic Officer in Tallinn, Estonia; and Chief of American Citizen Services in Moscow, Russia. In Washington, Kelly served as Deputy Executive Secretary of the National Security Council from 2011-2013 among other assignments. Kelly is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. She is the recipient of the State Department's Rockwell Anthony Schnabel Award for Advancing U.S.-EU Relations and the Sinclaire Language Award. She has a Master's degree in Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies from Harvard University and a Bachelor's degree in International Studies from The American University in Washington, DC. Born in Atlantic City, NJ, Kelly now lives in Arlington, Virginia, with her husband and two children.
FUNCTIONAL EXPERTISE: Diplomacy, Economics
REGIONAL EXPERTISE: Central and Eastern Europe, UK, European Union, Russia
EMAIL: Kelly.e.adams-smith.civ@msc.ndu.edu