Jeff Rathke is the President of the American-German Institute at the Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC.  Prior to joining AGI, Jeff was a senior fellow and deputy director of the Europe Program at CSIS (2015-2018), where his work focused on transatlantic relations and U.S. security and defense policy.  He began his foreign affairs career at the State Department in 1991, where he served for 24 years as a Foreign Service Officer, dedicated primarily to U.S. relations with Europe, serving twice in Germany. He was director of the State Department Press Office from 2014 to 2015, briefing the State Department press corps and managing the Department’s engagement with U.S. print and electronic media. Previously, he was deputy director of the private office of NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in Brussels (2009-2011). Jeff’s Washington assignments included the Office of European Security and Political Affairs and tours of duty in the White House Situation Room and State Department Operations Center.  He also served at U.S. Embassies in Dublin, Moscow, Kuala Lumpur, and Riga, which he helped open after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Mr. Rathke has a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from Princeton and Bachelor’s Degrees from Cornell University. Mr. Rathke has been awarded national honors by Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as several State Department awards. He speaks German, Russian, and Latvian.