Washington--John P. Walters, who has served as the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) since December 2001, will join Hudson Institute as Executive Vice President effective January 20, 2009.
At Hudson, Walters will build on his broad public policy experience, including running the cabinet-level ONDCP, to develop research-based initiatives in fields ranging from crime and drug policy to international affairs. Under Walters' leadership at ONDCP, where his portfolio included coordinating all aspects of U.S. drug policy, from interdiction to prevention and treatment, youth drug use declined to its lowest levels in nearly two decades, with a 25 percent reduction in overall youth drug use over the past seven years.
"John is a noted policy intellectual with a clear record of accomplishment in public life," Hudson Institute CEO Ken Weinstein said. "My colleagues and I are looking forward to benefiting from his judgment, experience and knowledge of policy and the non-profit world."
"I have been honored to serve in President Bush's Administration since 2001, and now I am looking forward to joining Hudson Institute, a dynamic and growing organization that has become one of America's leading think tanks," Walters said.
Prior to serving as the nation's "Drug Czar," Walters, a native of East Lansing, Michigan served as President of the Philanthropy Roundtable; Executive Director of The New Citizenship Project; Deputy Director and Chief of Staff at the Office of National Drug Control Policy; and was on the staff of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the U.S. Department of Education. He served as a Visiting Fellow at Hudson Institute in 1993.
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Hudson Institute is a non-partisan policy research organization dedicated to innovative research and analysis that promotes global security, prosperity, and freedom.