The Aspen Institute

Thomas Donilon is the Chairman of the BlackRock Investment Institute. Previously, he served as National Security Advisor to President Barack Obama. In that capacity, he coordinated the administration’s foreign policy, intelligence, and military efforts, and served as the President’s emissary to a number of world leaders. Mr. Donilon chaired the Obama-Biden transition at the U.S. State Department and National Security Council and headed President Obama’s debate preparation in the 2008 campaign. In 2016, he chaired the Presidential Commission to Enhance National Cybersecurity. Mr. Donilon serves as Co-Chair of the Foreign Policy Advisory Board at the U.S. State Department and as a member of the Defense Policy Board. He is a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, a non-resident senior fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and a member of the Center on Global Energy Policy Advisory Board at Columbia University, the Brookings Institution Board of Trustees, and the Trilateral Commission. Mr. Donilon has advised four U.S. presidents since his first position at the White House in 1977, working with President Carter. He has received numerous awards for his distinguished public service. Mr. Donilon lives in Washington, DC, with his spouse, Ambassador Cathy Russell, who currently serves as UNICEF’s Executive Director.