William Inboden | |
|---|---|
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| Born | William Charles Inboden III (1972-11-07)November 7, 1972 (age 53) |
| Alma mater | Stanford University Yale University |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | National security, U.S. foreign policy, religious freedom |
| Institutions | Clements Center for National Security Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs University of Texas at Austin |
William Charles Inboden III (born November 7, 1972) is an American academic, writer, and formerWhite House staffer. Inboden is currently the executive vice president and provost of theUniversity of Texas at Austin and the William Powers Jr. Chair of theClements Center for National Security at the University of Texas at Austin.[1] He also serves as an associate professor of public affairs at theLBJ School of Public Affairs[2] and Distinguished Scholar at theRobert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law, as well as a Senior Fellow at theTrinity Forum.[3] On June 12, 2023, Inboden was hired[4] by the University of Florida as the director of theHamilton Center before returning to UT Austin in August 2025 to serve as the university's chief academic officer. He is married toDr. Rana Siu Inboden.
Will Inboden graduated with an A.B. in history fromStanford University in 1994.[citation needed] During his time at Stanford, Inboden studied abroad atOxford University'sMagdalen College.
After graduation, Inboden worked as a staff member in both the United States Senate and the House of Representatives in the offices ofSam Nunn (D-GA) andTom DeLay (R-TX).[5] During his time in Congress, Inboden was one of the original "visionaries" of theInternational Religious Freedom Act of 1998,[6] which obligates Congress and the president "to take into account the various issues of religious freedom while developing the country's foreign policy."
In 1998, Inboden moved to New Haven to pursue a Ph.D. in history atYale University.[citation needed] During his time at Yale, Inboden was a Civitas Fellow at theAmerican Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., from 2001 to 2002. Inboden received his Ph.D. degree in history from Yale University in 2003. His dissertation was entitled "The Soul of American Diplomacy: Religion and Foreign Policy, 1945–1960."[7]
Returning to Washington, D.C., Inboden worked at theU.S. Department of State as a member of the Policy Planning Staff and the special advisor in the Office of International Religious Freedom.[1]
From 2005 to 2007, Inboden served as the senior director for Strategic Planning and Institutional Reform at theNational Security Council underPresident George W. Bush.[citation needed] During his time at the White House, he worked on a range of foreign policy issues including theNational Security Strategy, democracy and governance, contingency planning, counterradicalization, and multilateral institutions and initiatives.
From 2007 to 2010, Inboden served as the senior vice president and head of the Legatum Institute, a London-based think tank and educational charity,[8] conducting research on issues related to national security, political and economic liberty, and global prosperity.
In 2010, Inboden moved to Austin, Texas to begin teaching at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas as an assistant professor in public affairs. Additionally, in 2010, he joined theRobert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law at UT-Austin as a distinguished scholar.[9] In 2013, Inboden was promoted to associate professor.
Since 2010, Inboden has taught a wide range of courses, including "Presidential Leadership and Decision Making on National Security," "Intelligence & National Security in American Society" with ProfessorStephen Slick, and "Ethics & International Relations."[10] As a professor, Inboden has received numerous teaching awards (including Best New Professor[11]), and his classes have often been selected as the "Best Class in the LBJ School." During his time at UT, Inboden has also served as a non-resident fellow with theGerman Marshall Fund of the United States,[12] Senior Advisor with Avascent International, and Associate Scholar withGeorgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs.[13]
In 2013, Inboden helped to establish theWilliam P. Clements Jr. Center for National Security at UT Austin, where he served as the center's executive director until 2023.[1] The Clements Center, a nonpartisan research and policy center named after former Texas Governor and Deputy Secretary of DefenseBill Clements, aims to "draw on the best insights of diplomatic and military history to train the next generation of national security leaders.[14] Inboden says he was inspired to create a center which would bridge the gap between policymakers and historians during his tenure in the National Security Council, after noticing that nearly every high-level national security official was reading a book on history during a meeting at Camp David.[15] Every semester, the Clements Center brings distinguished scholars and policymakers to UT's campus, including former and current Secretaries of Defense, directors of the CIA, Pulitzer-prize winners, and senior intelligence officials.
Inboden is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a contributing editor toForeign Policy magazine, and his commentary has appeared in numerous outlets including theWall Street Journal,New York Times,Washington Post,Los Angeles Times, NPR, Sky News, BBC, and CNN. His newest book isThe Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink, a history of Reagan administration national security policy.[16]
(Co-Author with Peter Feaver:"A Strategic Planning Cell on National Security at the White House," inAvoiding Trivia: The Role of Strategic Planning in American Foreign Policy, edited by Daniel Drezner, Brookings Institution Press, 2009.
