View Gluckman's Odyssey medal acceptance speech.
Andrea A. Gluckman is an expert on governance, culture and education in the Middle East. She is the founder of Jasara Advisors, a consulting firm that advises on educational, political and economic endeavors in the Middle East.
Before founding Jasara, Gluckman was a lecturer in political science at the University of Rochester, focusing on Middle Eastern politics and history. She previously served as the Executive Director of the University of the Middle East Project, a project on higher education in 14 countries of the Middle East and North Africa. Gluckman has also worked as a Senior Advisor to the Kuwaiti government in Washington, D.C. on issues of strategic management and higher education. Gluckman served as the acting Director of the Kennedy School of Government’s Middle East Initiative of Harvard University, before which she lived in Central and Southern Africa and the Middle East conducting research on re-establishing justice systems in post-conflict societies on a Harvard fellowship. She has served on the advisory board of a number of non-profits focused on policy and business in the Middle East. Gluckman has written articles, presented speeches, and given commentaries in domestic and international contexts. Gluckman speaks Arabic and French, and has a working knowledge of Spanish, Hebrew, and Farsi.
Gluckman received her Masters from Harvard University in the fields of religion and policy in the Middle East. She graduated summa cum with a B.A. from Hendrix College in peace and conflict studies. Originally from Arkansas, Gluckman has lived in various European countries, the Mediterranean, Southern Africa, and the Middle East. Gluckman currently lives in Bethesda, Md., with her husband, daughter, and three dogs.