Who we are

Leon Fuerth

Professor Leon Fuerth’s career in government spanned thirty years, including positions in the State Department, House and Senate staff, and the White House. His most recent government service was as Vice President Gore’s National Security Adviser for the eight years of the Clinton Administration, where he served on the Principals’ Committee of the National Security Council and the National Economic Council, alongside the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the President’s own National Security Advisor. After retiring from government service at the conclusion of the Clinton Administration, Professor Fuerth came to The George Washington University at the Elliott School of International Affairs. In addition, from 2011-2013 he served as a Distinguished Research Fellow at the National Defense University. He served as a Practitioner in Residence at the George Washington University’s Institute for Global and International Studies from 2013 -2016.  During this period, he did pioneering work on ways to tighten the relationship between foresight and policy in government, including the concept of Anticipatory Governance. From 2018-2020, Professor Fuerth served as co-researcher on The Project on Foresight and Democracy funded by Rockefeller Brothers Fund and is currently working with Dr. Sheila Ronis on Anticipatory Governance For Democracy.

Sheila Ronis

Dr. Sheila R. Ronis teaches the capstone course of the online Master of Public Affairs and Leadership program at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University. She also teaches the capstone course of the undergraduate Washington Academic Internship Program in Washington, D.C. Dr. Ronis serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board at the Glenn College. Before joining Ohio State, she retired as Distinguished Professor of Management and Director of the Center for Complex and Strategic Decisions at Walsh College. In addition, Dr. Ronis is an Associate with Argonne National Laboratory University of Chicago. She serves on the National Defense University Foundation Board of Directors as Chairman Emeritus. Her consulting firm, The University Group Partners, LLC has worked with the senior leadership of organizations from AT&T to General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company and the Department of Defense as well as the broader national security community, where she chaired the Vision Working Group of the Congressionally mandated Project on National Security Reform. She is the author of hundreds of articles and six books. Dr. Ronis is an active member of the Federal Foresight Community of Interest in Washington, D.C. where she and Leon Fuerth also support the broader federal government and global foresight communities and Anticipatory Governance For Democracy.