Ambassador Michael Carpenter currently serves as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Europe at the National Security Council. In this role, Dr. Carpenter advises the President and the National Security Advisor and coordinates U.S. national security policy on European affairs. Dr. Carpenter previously served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Prior to that, Dr. Carpenter was the Managing Director of the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania. From 2015-17, he served in the Pentagon as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia, and Conventional Arms Control. Ambassador Carpenter holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Stanford University a master’s degree and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley.