Global development expert Alexious Butler, MSIA 2002, has been named to the 2022 U.S. National Security & Foreign Affairs Leadership List by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Diversity in National Security Network (DINSN).

The list includes 50 leaders from government, non-profits, academia, and the private sector chosen for “the strength and uniqueness of their contributions to national security and foreign affairs,” according to CSIS.

“I am incredibly honored to be included among this list of distinguished colleagues working on national security issues across the U.S. government. In many ways, my master’s degree from the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs got me on to my current career path, and I couldn’t be more thankful for the support and guidance I have received over the years,” Butler said.

Butler is a senior foreign service officer at the U.S. Agency for International Development and is currently assigned to work with the U.S. Department of Defense’s Central Command as a senior development advisor.

Since joining USAID in 2014, she also has served as acting deputy assistant administrator for the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, diplomat in residence at Morehouse College, deputy mission director in Haiti, and director of the Office of Democracy and Governance in South Sudan, among other postings.

“We are thrilled, but not entirely surprised, to see Alexious receive this recognition,” said Adam Stulberg, chair of the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs. “Alexious and her outstanding and impactful work show what is possible when committed people set their mind to solving big challenges facing our world.”

Seeking to help educate more leaders like Butler, the Nunn School, in conjunction with the School of Economics and the School of City and Regional Planning in the College of Design, recently expanded its footprint in the global development space with a new Master of Science in Global Development. The one-year multidisciplinary program seeks to respond to the challenges of urbanization, climate change, and growing inequality.

The Nunn School is a unit of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.