Anita McBride
Chair, J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board
Senior Advisor, George W. Bush Foundation

Anita McBride served as Assistant to President George W. Bush and Chief of Staff to First Lady Laura Bush from 2005 to 2009. She was responsible for directing and executing the First Lady’s global and domestic platform and coordinating her efforts with presidential policies and initiatives including global health, education, historic preservation, and human rights.

Ms. McBride’s government service spans two decades and three administrations. She joined the Reagan Administration in 1984 and served as White House Personnel Director under Presidents Reagan and George H. W. Bush from 1987-1992 and as Director of the Speakers Bureau at the United States Information Agency in 1992. From 2001-2004, Ms. McBride served President George W. Bush in White House Management, and at the State Department as White House Liaison, and as Senior Advisor in the Bureau of International Organizations. She was a member of U.S. delegations to the UN Commission on the Status of Women (2002), UN Commission on Human Rights (2003), and the UN Special Session on HIV/AIDS (2006).

Ms. McBride’s private sector experience includes corporate philanthropy (Smith Kline Beecham Foundation); management consulting and executive recruiting for non-profit organizations and trade associations. She received her B.A. in International Studies from the University of Connecticut in 1981, and studied at the American University in Washington, DC, and the University of Florence in Italy.

Ms. McBride is a member of the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council, and is the Executive in Residence at American University’s Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, School of Public Affairs. She was recently appointed to the Presidenial Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS; and also serves on the board of the National Italian American Foundation.