University of Maryland School of Social Work Alumna Wendy R. Sherman, MSW '76 is nominated by President-elect Joe Biden to be Deputy Secretary of State. "A trusted advisor to President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris, Ambassador Sherman is one of the country’s foremost diplomats," says Biden officials. They add, "she has successfully rallied the world to strengthen democracy and confront some of the biggest national security challenges of our time, including leading the U.S. negotiating team for the Iran Deal as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. During her four years as Under Secretary, she traveled to 54 countries, engaged in diplomacy on every continent and was awarded the National Security Medal by President Obama for her diplomatic achievements."
Ambassador Wendy Sherman is a professor of the practice of public leadership and director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School and a Senior Fellow at the School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. A trusted advisor to President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris, Ambassador Sherman is one of our country’s foremost diplomats. During the Obama-Biden Administration, she served as Acting Deputy Secretary of State and Under Secretary for Political Affairs, for Secretaries Clinton and Kerry, a role in which she led the U.S. negotiating team in the Iran talks. During her four years as Under Secretary, she traveled to 54 countries, engaged in diplomacy on every continent and was awarded the National Security Medal by President Obama for her diplomatic achievements. She was the first woman to hold the position of Under Secretary for Political Affairs and, if confirmed, will be the first woman to be Deputy Secretary.
During the Clinton-Gore Administration, Ambassador Sherman served as Counselor to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and as Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs for Secretary Warren Christopher. In addition, she has served on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, the Defense Policy Board and on the Congressional Commission on the Prevention of the Weapons of Mass Destruction, Proliferation and Terrorism. She is a Senior Counselor at the Albright Stonebridge Group.
Ambassador Sherman, with a Master’s in Social Work, began her career as Director of Child Welfare for the State of Maryland and later managed the successful U.S. Senate campaign of Senator Barbara Mikulski, the first Democratic woman elected to the U.S. Senate in her own right. She attended Smith College and received her bachelor’s degree, cum laude, from Boston University and a master’s degree in Social Work, Phi Kappa Phi, from the University of Maryland.