About the Author

Ambassador (ret.) Douglas W. Kmiec is Caruso Family Chair and Professor of Constitutional Law & Human Rights, Pepperdine University. In addition to being an author and syndicated columnist, he has been privileged to serve Democratic and Republican presidents alike. Until recently, upon nomination by President Obama and confirmation by the Senate, he was U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Malta, where he completed the construction of a $125.5 million embassy compound and upgraded the security and economic ties between the Mediterranean and the U.S. When Qaddafi met the call for political reform with violence threatening civilian populations, the Ambassador successfully organized a rescue of the staff of Embassy-Tripoli and hundreds of other foreign nationals from Libya with a catamaran. Ambassador Kmiec had previously served as head of the Office of Legal Counsel (U.S. Assistant Attorney General) for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, where his opinion writing led to the non-discriminatory application of federal law to those handicapped by AIDS. The Ambassador's academic career includes serving as Dean & St. Thomas More Professor of The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and Professor and Director of the Center on Law & Government at the University of Notre Dame, where the Ambassador taught for close to two decades. A Fulbright Scholar (Asia), White House Fellow, and honorary degree recipient, the Ambassador is a graduate of Northwestern and USC.