In Memoriam
The US-Asia Institute lost two important Senior Advisors in 2024: Dr. Anthony “Tony” Cordesman and Robert “Bob” Jordan. Click on their names to read more about these remarkable men.
SENIOR ADVISORS
+ Peggy Carnes
Peggy Carnes hails from a family with a tradition of military service. As a consequence she lived in both Europe and Asia for extended periods, in such varied places as Japan, Taiwan, Germany and Denmark. In addition she lived in nine US states where she earned degrees from Washington State University, Montana State University, and the University of South Carolina in the fields of Education, Business and Computer Science. Academic accolades include graduating Cum Laude and recipient of the Wall Street Journal Award for the outstanding graduate in the School of Business. She taught an economics review at Montana State, and independently developed custom software for small businesses. In preparation for a diplomatic assignment to the Kingdom of Denmark and the Republic of Lithuania, Ms. Carnes attended the Defense Attaché School and the State Department Foreign Service Institute. She has since focused the skills she developed during her multicultural experiences, which include a deep knowledge of protocols and cultural sensitivities, to assist the US-Asia Institute in its United Nations receptions, Washington, D.C. programs, and international exchanges. She has led over a dozen Congressional and staff delegations to China. As a current resident of Virginia Beach, Virginia, she has served on both civic and academic boards, while actively supporting international military families from around the world on temporary assignment to the United States.
+ Joe Fawkner
Joe Fawkner is a senior policy advisor at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld based in Washington, D.C. Prior to Akin Gump, he served as a senior policy advisor for Rep. Carol D. Miller (WV-03). In this capacity, he advised the Congresswoman on international trade and policy issues with respect to her membership on the House Ways & Means Committee. Before Capitol Hill, Joe worked at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for nearly a decade in number of Asia-Pacific focused capacities, including as the executive director of the Hong Kong-U.S. Business Council. He also advised a number of technology and investment start-up companies, including FiscalNote, on go-to-market strategies. Joe began his career in Washington as an employee at the US-Asia Institute.
+ Gail Kee
Gail Kee’s role is to assist the US Asia Institute with development and other outreach efforts. As a founding member and Board Member of the 21st Century China program at University of Califormia San Diego, she has been committed for over a decade to fostering a strong base of knowledge of contemporary China and to making that knowledge readily accessible to leaders and students in the US.
Gail, a graduate of Yale College (B.S.) and Stanford Business School (MBA/PMP), worked in the systems integration sector of the high tech industry during the 1980’s. She then moved to real estate finance and development over the next two decades, working on projects in the mid-Atlantic region, New York and New England for various private companies. She is now retired and lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and two children, both adopted from China.
+ Kenneth Nealy
Kenneth Nealy serves as a Senior Advisor for USAI. Mr. Nealy also served as a Senior Advisor in China to the US-Asia Institute, where he aided and helped facilitate U.S. Congressional Staff and Member delegations that visited China.
In Washington D.C. Mr. Nealy served as chief of staff for two Members of Congress in the U.S. House of Representatives; as well as legislative director; senior appropriations counsel and legislative counsel to several other members of congress. After his first year of law school, Mr. Nealy clerked for a federal judge, drafting opinions and orders. After his second year of law school, Mr. Nealy interned in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. After graduating from law school, Mr. Nealy moved to Washington, D.C. to serve as legislative counsel for the Member of Congress representing his home district.
In China, Mr. Nealy served as an adjunct professor at the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) at East China Normal University in Shanghai, where he taught courses on Policy, Decision-Making and Law; and Intercultural Communications and Negotiations. Mr. Nealy worked for two international law firms in Shanghai, China. He also worked as a consultant at international companies and trained international staff. He has also taught courses on Public Speaking at the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance (SAIF) at Jiao Tong University and at Fudan University in Shanghai. Additionally, Mr. Nealy served as the congressional affairs advisor to the Maryland Center China. Mr. Nealy lived and worked in Shanghai for over 12 years.
Mr. Nealy received his law degree (J.D.) from Thurgood Marshall School of Law, at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas. He also received his Bachelor of Arts undergraduate degree from Texas Southern University, in Houston, Texas, where he majored in Political Science and minored in Speech Communications. Mr. Nealy has the distinction of serving as a Gansu Provincial Government International Fellow in Lanzhou, China, where he earned certificates of Completion in Elementary Comprehensive Chinese, Oral Chinese and the General View of Chinese Culture in the School of International Cultural Exchange, from Lanzhou University and the Gansu Provincial Government.
+ Gail Quan
Gail Quan is a New York City-based consultant in Conference and Events Planning, Board Management, Space Planning/Relocation Services and Human Capital/Benefit Administration Services. With an extensive knowledge of the New York City non-profit business environment, Ms. Quan is experienced in all aspects of operational start-ups including establishment of policies and best practices which provide a strong foundation for strategic institutional growth. She has provided rapid response in emerging issues to effectively identify organizational needs and create affordable and workable solutions. Ms. Quan was with Seedco/Seedco Financial Services as the Secretary of the Board/Senior Vice President for Human Capital and Administration/Real Estate Operations. Prior positions include: Director of Human Resources and Administration/Real Estate Operations at HealthFirst, Director of the Executive Secretariat/Chief of Staff to the Commissioner of NYC’s Human Resources Administration (at the time, the country’s largest health and social services organization with 30,000 employees and an annual budget of over $6B) and Executive Associate to the President at MDRC. Ms. Quan was a member of the start-up teams at Seedco/Seedco Financial Services, HealthFirst and MDRC and guided these organizations through their explosive periods of growth. She attended Briarcliff College (BA in Urban Policy) and New School University (MA in Urban Studies/Policy Analysis).
+ Rick A. Dearborn
Rick is a senior policy professional with three decades of experience ranging from service under two US Presidents and six US senators to postings at a premier think tank and a major DC trade association. Rick has special expertise in the trade, agriculture, defense, energy, healthcare, and telecom sectors.
From January of 2017 until mid-March of 2018, Mr. Dearborn served The President of the United States as his Deputy Chief of Staff. Mr. Dearborn was responsible for the day-to-day operations of ~100 staff in five separate Executive Office of the President (EOP) departments
Three days after the 2016 election, President-Elect Trump tapped Vice President-elect Mike Pence to serve as Chairman of the Presidential Transition Team and asked Mr. Dearborn to serve as the Executive Director. Daily responsibility included the direction and management of the core components of the Transition Team’s 600+ members.
Prior to leading the President’s Transition team, Mr. Dearborn had served for twelve years from 2005 until January of 2017 as Chief of Staff to then U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions.
He served Senator Sessions for a total of eighteen and a half years having been originally hired as the Senator’s Legislative Director in 1997.
In 2003, between serving as Senator Sessions’ Legislative Director and Chief of Staff, Mr. Dearborn was nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become the Assistant Secretary of Energy for Congressional Affairs, where he worked with the Senate, House and Tribal Governments on the President’s Energy agenda.
Prior employment has included working at the National Republican Senatorial Committee for Sens. Rudy Boschwitz and Don Nickles, The Heritage Foundation, where he was Director of Congressional Relations, and lobbying for the American Medical Association. He has served in Senate Leadership Offices as well, for Senators Trent Lott and Bob Kasten on the Senate Republican Conference, and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison as Executive Director of the Senate Steering Committee.
He is currently a partner at the Cypress Group, a Washington, D.C. based strategic advisory and advocacy firm that provides counsel to clients on public policy risk and opportunity, designs strategic plans around those risks and opportunities, and assists in executing on plans of action.
Mr. Dearborn graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1988. He and his wife, Gina split their time between homes in Alexandria, VA and Birmingham, AL.
+ Surya G. Gunasekara
Surya G. Gunasekara is the founder and principal of Section VII Strategies a boutique energy, tax, and trade policy consulting firm. Previously, Surya has held senior positions at the Department of Energy and the Department of Homeland Security. In addition, he worked for several years as the Chief of Staff and General Counsel for Congressman Jim Renacci, a member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. Before serving on Capitol Hill, Surya worked at two major trade associations and the Department of Defense focusing on tax, customs, and energy issues. He holds a J.D. cum laude from the University of Mississippi. Prior to law school, he graduated from the University of Denver with a Masters in Natural Resource and Energy Policy and from the University of Colorado with a Bachelors in Political Science.
+ Keith Luse
Keith Luse is the Executive Director of the National Committee on North Korea. Previously, Luse was the Senior East Asia Policy Advisor for Chairman and later Ranking Member Senator Richard G. Lugar at the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2003 until 2013. Luse also served as Staff Director for Mr. Lugar at the Senate Agriculture Committee from 1999 through 2002, where the Senator also served as Chairman and later Ranking Member. While at the Senate Agriculture Committee, Luse made the first of eventually five trips to North Korea.
Mr. Luse joined Senator Lugar’s Indiana Office in 1978 and was appointed State Director in 1982. In the 1990’s while in the private sector, Luse traveled throughout East Asia for eight years, conducting research for U.S. businesses. In addition to assisting Senator Lugar at the Foreign Relations Committee on legislative initiatives, Luse directed or participated in several oversight projects and investigations. They included the integrity of the U.S. - funded humanitarian assistance distribution process inside North Korea; the murder of Americans in Papua, Indonesia; corruption and transparency challenges at The Asia Development Bank and The World Bank, and an evaluation of the effectiveness of U.S. foreign assistance to countries in East Asia with an emphasis on Cambodia and Indonesia.
Luse’s reports to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee included “China’s Impact on Korean Peninsula Unification and Questions for the Senate” (2012); “Trafficking and Extortion of Burmese Migrants in Malaysia and Southern Thailand” (2009); and “North Korea and Its Nuclear Program – A Reality Check” (2008).
In 2016, Luse was presented the Vietnam “Medal of Friendship” by President Truong Tan Sang for active contributions to the process of Normalization and Development of the U.S. – Vietnam relationship. Upon departing the Senate in 2013, Luse received the Philippine Legion of Honor Award from President Aquino for assisting Senator Lugar’s efforts to foster relations between the United States and the Philippines and Southeast Asia. He is also a Co-Recipient of the 2010 Kato Ryozo Award for Service to the U.S. – Japan Alliance.
Luse has traveled extensively in East Asia including five visits to North Korea, and has participated in numerous Track 1.5 and Track 2 sessions about North Korea or with North Korean officials outside of their country. Luse is an Advisory Board Member of The Center for Constitutional Democracy at Indiana University's Maurer School of Law. He formerly served on the Boards of The American Center for International Leadership, The Indianapolis Museum of Indian Heritage and The Indianapolis Hispano-American Center. From 1989 to 1991 he was Chairman of the Indiana Republican Party. Luse has also been a guest lecturer at The University of Indonesia (Jakarta), The Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs Diplomatic Academy, The Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs Diplomatic Academy (Hanoi), The Foreign Language Institute (Pyongyang), The Indonesian Parliament (Jakarta) and several American universities.
Luse’s Bachelor of Arts degree in political science is from Indiana University. His graduate certificate in public management and additional graduate studies were obtained at Indiana University – Purdue University, Indianapolis.
+ Mary Purdy
Mary Purdy is a retired Lead Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton, a leading provider of management and technology consulting services to the US government in defense, intelligence, and civil markets. Ms. Purdy’s clients included several Department of Defense Headquarters level organizations in cyberspace and Information Technology (IT). In 2010, Ms. Purdy received the Department of the Navy Meritorious Public Service Award from the Chief Information Officer for her work on the implementation of a groundbreaking Navy and Marine Corps Cyber Workforce Strategy. She authored numerous articles on the workforce with regard to leadership, personnel, and training initiatives. Retiring in 2015 after 16 years with Booz Allen Hamilton, she continues to consult on enterprise cyberspace and cybersecurity workforce and human capital planning solutions. Before joining Booz Allen, Ms. Purdy served as a career Naval officer with experience in manpower and personnel, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence, operations, and joint warfighting. She worked extensively with the Joint Staff, unified commands, and other government agencies. As a Senior Military Fellow at the National Defense University, she developed and conducted political military simulations for the Flag and General Officer CAPSTONE course and provided subject matter expertise on China’s relationship with the West. Earlier in her career, Ms. Purdy was responsible for the development and implementation of numerous personnel management programs to include assignments with the Naval Military Personnel Command, where she coordinated the initial deployment of women to the “Women in Ships” program. At the US Naval Academy she oversaw the daily military and academic development of Midshipmen, and authored several major regulation manuals—affecting all aspects of student development for the Brigade of Midshipmen. Ms. Purdy received her bachelor’s degree with honors in Psychology at Northwest Missouri State University. She holds a Masters in Human Resources from Webster University and is a graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces and Naval War College (off-campus). In 2009, she was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award from Northwest Missouri State University.
+ J. Matthew Szymanski
J. Matthew Szymanski is a senior advisor for the US-Asia Institute and attorney at Gammon and Grange, P.C. From 1990-2002, he practiced law and served in government in the Washington, D.C. area. From 2002-2007, he served the US Congress as chief of staff for both the House Small Business Committee and the US-China Interparliamentary Exchange. In the latter role, he helped manage US-China relations by organizing 20 US delegations to China and hosting many Chinese delegations in the United States. From 2007-2014, Mr. Szymanski was vice president for corporate relations at Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) at its headquarters in Shanghai, China. He resided on SMIC’s Shanghai campus with his family and together they traveled widely. To promote US-China relations, he hosted US and Chinese delegations at work and at home and volunteered time teaching US-style rule of law (ROL) courses at East China University of Political Science and Law, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Fudan University, and Peking University School of Transnational Law. He also served as an adjunct professor for Council on International Educational Exchange, teaching international business law to American undergraduates studying abroad at East China Normal University. He returned to the US in 2014.
In 2008, Mr. Szymanski partnered with USAI to establish the USAI-Szymanski ROL Program for Chinese Students to host top Chinese law students in Washington, D.C. For four weeks each summer, a handful of students experience the US system firsthand, observing legislative and judicial proceedings and meeting with officials from all three branches of the US Government. In 2015, he partnered with USAI to establish the USAI-Szymanski ROL Program for US Students.
EMERITUS
+ Bates Gill
Dr. Bates Gill is currently Professor of Asia-Pacific Security Studies at Macquarie University in Sydney and an Associate Fellow with the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House, London). He previously held positions at the Australian National University and the University of Sydney, including as Chief Executive Officer of the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. Prior to this, he was Director and chief executive of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), an independent think tank recognized as one of the world’s top ten research institutes in international affairs. Before joining SIPRI, Dr. Gill held the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C (2002-2007) and previously served as a Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy Studies and inaugural Director of the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution (1998-2002). He has also held the Fei Yiming Professorship in Comparative Politics at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Chinese and American Studies, Nanjing, China. He also serves on the Board of Governors of the Rajaratnam School of International Studies (Singapore) and is a member of the International Board of Advisors for the Shanghai Institutes of International Studies. He is on the Editorial Board of the China Quarterly, Journal of Contemporary China, and Security Challenges. Dr. Gill received his Ph.D. in Foreign Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson Department of Government and Foreign Affairs, University of Virginia.
+ Michael Lai
Michael Lai is Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering and Orthopedic Bioengineering at Columbia University.
Between 1962 and 1986, he was a faculty member in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He joined the Columbia faculty in 1987 with a joint appointment between the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Orthopedic Surgery. He served as Chairman of the Mechanical Engineering Department from 1996 to 2002 and became Professor Emeritus in 2004. His research field has been in Orthopaedic Bioengineering with a special interest in soft tissue mechanics. Many of his publications have been in the constitutive modeling of articular cartilage for which he received the ASME Melville Medal in 1982 and the ASME Lissner Medal in 2001.
Dr. Lai is a Fellow of ASME and a founding Fellow of the American Institute for Biomedical and Biological Engineering (1995). At Columbia, he has received a Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award from the Columbia Engineering School Alumni Association (2000).
Dr. Lai received his Ph.D in Engineering Mechanics in 1962 from the University of Michigan.
+ Hank Levine
Hank Levine is a retired diplomat and consultant. Mr. Levine was a Senior Advisor with the Albright Stonebridge Group — a strategic advisory firm in Washington, DC. As a senior member of the firm’s multimillion-dollar China practice Mr. Levine helped international firms deepen their interactions with government and non-government entities in China and resolve business issues.
Before entering the private sector Mr. Levine spent 25 years as a Foreign Service Officer with the US Department of State. In this capacity he served twice in the State Department’s Office of China Affairs, twice at the US Embassy in Beijing, and as US Consul General in Shanghai. Following his tour in Shanghai he served for three years as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Asia at the US Department of Commerce. In that capacity he was the senior China adviser to two secretaries of Commerce and lead negotiator for the annual US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade.
Mr. Levine is a member of the National Committee on US China Relations and a member of the Advisory Council of the US-China Education Trust, where he previously served as Executive Director. He is a frequent speaker on US-China relations to business, government, and academic groups.
Mr. Levine has a B.A. in Political Science from Bucknell University. He did graduate work in international affairs at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He is a graduate, with distinction, from the US National War College. He is fluent in Chinese (Mandarin).
You can download the one-pager detailing information of the US-Asia Institute’s Leadership HERE.
