United States Vice President-elect Kamala Harris has named Nancy McEldowney, a former US ambassador to Bulgaria, as her national security adviser.

United States Vice President-elect Kamala Harris has named Nancy McEldowney, a former US ambassador to Bulgaria, as her national security adviser.

McEldowney served for over 30 years in the US Foreign Service, including as ambassador to Bulgaria, from August 2008 to July 2009, and as Chargé d’Affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission in Turkey and Azerbaijan.

During her time at the Department of State, she served as Director of the Foreign Service Institute, where she led the foreign affairs training facility for the US government, and also served as Interim President and Senior Vice President of the National Defense University.

Earlier in her career, she was a leading policy advisor on Europe, including working for President Bill Clinton as Director of European Affairs on the National Security Council staff, and as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, where she led the US government’s engagement with Nato, the European Union, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

McEldowney is a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy and is on advisory boards for Soldier Strong, Foreign Policy for America, National Security Action, and the US Diplomatic Studies Foundation.

Most recently, McEldowney served as a Distinguished Professor and Director of the Master of Science in Foreign Service program at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. Originally from Florida, McEldowney is a graduate of New College of Florida, Columbia University and the National Defense University.