Bio for Meghann Curtis
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Academic Programs

Ms. Meghann Curtis serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for Academic Programs at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) where she oversees all academic programs sponsored by the Department, including the Fulbright Program, the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program, Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program, Teacher Exchange Programs, English Language Programs. Ms. Curtis is also responsible for international student advising and marketing of American higher education resources through EducationUSA‘s network of offices around the world. ECA’s Office of Academic Exchange Programs, Office of English Language Programs, and Office of Global Educational Programs report through DAS Curtis.

Prior to joining ECA, Ms. Curtis served as Senior Advisor in the Office of the Counselor and Chief-of-Staff at the Department of State.  In this capacity, DAS Curtis advised Secretary of State Clinton and the Counselor and Chief-of-Staff on international development policies and strategies.  Her duties included serving as the Director of the Department’s post-earthquake Haiti Task Force and heading the Department’s implementation team for the development components of the Secretary’s Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review and the President’s Policy Directive on Global Development. 

Previously, DAS Curtis worked in the Secretary’s Policy Planning Office, the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, and the Office of the Director of Foreign Assistance.  Before coming to the State Department, she worked as a journalist in South Africa, an urban planner for the City of New York, and a Policy Director for the New York City Council.

Ms. Curtis holds a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and a Bachelor’s Degree in Urban Planning from Vassar College.  She is a Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations.