Victor D. Cha

Victor D. Cha is Distinguished University Professor, D.S. Song-KF Endowed Chairholder, and Professor of Government in the School of Foreign Service and Department of Government at Georgetown University. He has been a member of the Georgetown faculty for nearly three decades since joining in 1995, serving as Vice Dean for Faculty and Graduate Affairs from 2019 to 2023. Beyond Georgetown, he serves as President of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC.

Dr. Cha received his Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University, MIA from Columbia, M.A. in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford University, and A.B. in Economics from Columbia. His academic journey reflects deep expertise in international relations with a focus on East Asia.

His research focuses on international relations in East Asia, particularly US-Korea-Japan security dynamics, North Korean studies, and alliance systems in Asia. Cha's work bridges academic scholarship with practical policy application, having served on the White House National Security Council under the George W. Bush administration as Director for Asian Affairs, where he was responsible for Japan, the Korean peninsula, Australia/New Zealand and Pacific Island nation affairs, and served as Deputy Head of Delegation for the United States at the Six Party Talks in Beijing.

Dr. Cha has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards including the Ohira Book Prize (2000), Georgetown's Dean's Award for teaching (2010), Distinguished Research Award (2011), Distinguished Principal Investigator Award (2016), and the 2023 Hubert H. Humphrey award from the American Political Science Association for notable public service by a political scientist, along with the 2023 Joseph Kurzel Memorial Prize.

As a public intellectual, Cha serves on the Defense Policy Board for the Biden administration (2021-2025), is a member of the Board for the National Endowment for Democracy, and serves on the Board of The Korea Society. He is a Senior Fellow in Human Freedom (non-resident) at the George W. Bush Institute and contributes regularly to NBC News and MSNBC as a news analyst. His media presence extends to appearances on The Colbert Report and a cameo role in the film Red Dawn.