Research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world

Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall, Senior Fellow
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Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall

Senior Fellow

Dr. Liz Sherwood-Randall is rejoining the Belfer Center as a Senior Fellow and Director of the Initiative on Bioconvergence, Biosecurity, and Bioresilience (IB3).  This new endeavor is situated within the Program on Emerging Technology, Scientific Advancement and Global Policy. 

From January 2021 until January 2025, Dr. Sherwood-Randall served as the White House Homeland Security Advisor and Deputy National Security Advisor, spearheading Federal crisis management for a wide range of challenges including mass shootings, domestic and international terrorist attacks, extreme weather events, and critical infrastructure disruptions.  She drove Federal efforts to strengthen national preparedness for and resilience to future threats.  She guided the development and implementation of new strategies to counter terrorism at home and around the world.  She innovated new policies to prevent, prepare, and respond to natural and pernicious biological risks, including mpox, avian flu, and the convergence of advances in biotechnology and artificial intelligence.  To disrupt the synthetic opioid supply chain and save American lives, she built a counter-fentanyl campaign involving Mexico, Canada, and China, and mobilized a global coalition of more than 80 partner countries.

During the Obama Administration, Dr. Sherwood-Randall served in three roles: Deputy Secretary of Energy (2014-2017); White House Coordinator for Defense Policy, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction and Arms Control (2013-2014); and Senior Director for Europe on the National Security Council (2009-2013).  She served in the Clinton Administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia (1994-1996).  At the beginning of her career, she served as Chief Foreign Affairs and Defense Policy Advisor to Senator Joe Biden. 

Dr. Sherwood-Randall has taught and conducted research at universities and think tanks including Harvard, Stanford, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Council on Foreign Relations.  She has been involved with the Kennedy School over many years, including as a Founding Principal of the Harvard-Stanford Preventive Defense Project (with Ash Carter) and as Associate Director of the Strengthening Democratic Institutions Project (with Graham Allison).  She has also advised national laboratories, power grid and cybersecurity startups, and energy investment funds. 

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Dr. Sherwood-Randall graduated from Harvard College and received her doctorate in international relations as a Rhodes Scholar at Balliol College of Oxford University.  She is married to Dr. Jeffrey Randall, a neurosurgeon in the California Bay Area, and they have two sons. 

Asia & the Pacific Biotechnology China & security China's Nuclear Issues Climate Agreements Conflict & Conflict Resolution Crisis management Electricity Emergency response Emerging Technology, Scientific Advancement, and Global Policy Energy Energy Conservation Energy Innovation Policy Environment & Climate Change Europe European studies History Homeland security India's Energy Policy India's Nuclear Program Information Technology Infrastructure Technology Innovation Systems Intelligence International Cooperation International Relations Iran's Nuclear Program Military policy NATO Negotiation Non-lethal Weapons North America North Korea Nuclear Program Nuclear Issues Nuclear Proliferation Nuclear Security Nuclear Terrorism Nuclear Waste Nuclear Weapons Nuclear power Oil Oil & Energy Prices Pakistan Nuclear Program Preventive Defense Renewable Energy Russia nuclear program Science & Technology South Asia Space security Sustainable Development U.S. Energy Policy U.S. Foreign Policy U.S. Nuclear Issues Weapons of Mass Destruction

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Impacts of the U.S. Killing of Qassem Soleimani

by Matthew Bunn, Morgan L. Kaplan, Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall, Joseph L. Votel, Tarek Masoud, Vincent K. Brooks, Gary Samore, Martin B. Malin, William H. Tobey, Wendy R. Sherman, Paula J. Dobriansky and Rami Khouri
Article
from Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
In this Sept. 18, 2016 photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, center, attends a meeting with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Revolutionary Guard commanders in Tehran, Iran.

Impacts of U.S. Troop Withdrawal from Syria

by Ash Carter, Nicholas Burns, Rami Khouri, Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall, Morgan L. Kaplan, Stephen M. Walt, John Holland-McCowan, Dr. Amanda Sloat, Wendy R. Sherman and Eric Rosenbach
Article
from Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
A fighter from the Syrian Democratic Forces, SDF, stands inside a post where U.S. troops were based, in Tel Abyad town, at the Syrian-Turkish border, Syria, Monday, Oct. 7, 2019.