Director of Diplomacy Programs

BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY

Professor Vasil Sikharulidze, MD, MPA, DFNWC

 

His Excellency Professor Dr. Vasil Sikharulidze has a distinguished record of ethical leadership and is the Director of Diplomacy Programs at the New Westminster College of Caucasus University.

 

Professor Sikharulidze is the Chairman of the Atlantic Council of Georgia and previously served as Special Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of Georgia from 2009 to 2010. He also previously served as the Minister of Defense of Georgia from 2008 to 2009, and as Ambassador of Georgia to the United States, Canada and Mexico from 2005 to 2009.

 

Professor Sikharulidze served as Deputy Minister of Defense for International Relations at the Ministry of Defense of Georgia from 2004 to 2005, and as Undersecretary for International Relations, Strategy and Policy at the National Security Council of Georgia in 2004. From 2002 to 2004, he served as Deputy Head of Mission of the Georgia Mission to NATO, and as Head of the NATO Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia from 2000 to 2002. From 1996 to 2001, he was Senior Specialist on the Committee on Defense and Security of the Parliament of Georgia. He is the Founder of the Atlantic Council of Georgia and served as its first Executive Director from 1995 to 1996.

 

Professor Sikharulidze graduated in 1993 from Tbilisi State University with a Doctor of Medicine in Psychiatry, and practiced psychiatry from 1993 to 1995 at the Institute of Psychiatry. In 2011, he graduated from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University with a Master of Public Administration degree, and received his professorial appointment as Professor of Diplomacy in 2018 from Caucasus University, where he previously lectured as a distinguished speaker from 2013 to 2016. He has also lectured at Ilia State University and the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs, and was a Visiting Scholar at George Washington University.

 

Professor Sikharulidze holds the diplomatic rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, and the civil service rank of Actual State Advisor. He held the NATO Fellowship from 2001 to 2003 and received appointment in 2018 as a Distinguished Fellow of the New Westminster College of Caucasus University. He is co-author of the Atlantic Council of Georgia Publication Security Review.

 

Professor Sikharulidze has received numerous honors and decorations and is the recipient of the Order of Vakhtang Gorgasali for his distinguished service to Georgia. He speaks Georgian, English, Russian and French.

 

As a Professor of Diplomacy, Distinguished Fellow and Director of Diplomacy Programs of the New Westminster College of Caucasus University, Professor Dr. Vasil Sikharulidze, M.D., is dedicated to supporting the highest standards of academic excellence and is committed to the advancement of Caucasus University, the New Westminster College of Caucasus University and its Global Network of Fellows.

 

The information contained in this biographical summary is accurate and verifiable by legal documentation.