Council of Councils
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The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is pleased to welcome Thomas E. Donilon, Christopher P. Liddell, and Linda Thomas-Greenfield to its Board of Directors.
“I am delighted to welcome Tom, Chris, and Linda to our Board of Directors. Their wealth of experience and expertise across government and the private sector will meaningfully advance CFR’s nonpartisan mission to engage and inform members, policymakers, and interested citizens on the critical foreign policy challenges facing the United States and the world,” said CFR President Michael Froman. “I also want to extend my sincere thanks to Steve Hadley, James Manyika, and Richard Plepler for their many years of invaluable partnership and steadfast leadership on the Board.”
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Thomas E. Donilon
Thomas Donilon is the chairman of the BlackRock Investment Institute. He brings decades of experience advising four U.S. presidents on foreign policy, intelligence, and national security.
From 2010 to 2013, Mr. Donilon served as national security advisor to President Barack Obama. Previously, he served as deputy national security advisor and chaired the Obama-Biden transition at the U.S. State Department and National Security Council, as well as headed Obama’s debate preparation in the 2008 campaign. Mr. Donilon has served as the chair of the Presidential Commission to Enhance National Cybersecurity, cochair of the Foreign Policy Advisory Board at the U.S. State Department, and as a member of the Defense Policy Board and the CIA External Advisory Board. He recently served as a distinguished senior fellow at CFR.
Mr. Donilon holds a BA from Catholic University and a JD from the University of Virginia.
Christopher P. Liddell
Christopher Liddell has led a wide-ranging career spanning the public, private, and philanthropic sectors.
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In the public sector, Mr. Liddell served for four years as an assistant to the president in the first Trump administration, including as White House deputy chief of staff, director of strategic initiatives, and director of the American Technology Council.
Prior to his government service, Mr. Liddell spent thirty years in the private sector, including as the chief financial officer (CFO) of both Microsoft and International Paper. He was also the vice chairman and CFO of General Motors, where he oversaw the company’s historic $23 billion public offering in 2010.
In the philanthropic sector, Mr. Liddell served as the chairman of New Zealand’s largest environmental foundation and sat on several boards, including the New Zealand Rugby Union.
Mr. Liddell holds a BA with honors from the University of Auckland and an MA from the University of Oxford.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield
Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield brings decades of experience in U.S foreign policy to CFR’s board.
From 2021 to 2025, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, as well as the U.S. representative in the UN Security Council. During her tenure as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield was a member of President Joe Biden’s cabinet and sat on the National Security Council. Prior to her service at the United Nations, she headed the Biden-Harris administration’s State Department’s transition team.
As a long-serving career diplomat, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield held a wide range of senior posts including assistant secretary of state for African affairs, director general of the Foreign Service, and director of Human Resources at the State Department. Earlier in her career, she served as the principal deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of African Affairs and as the deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration.
After retiring in 2017, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield led the Africa Practice at Albright Stonebridge Group and was a distinguished resident fellow in African studies at Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy.
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield holds a BA from Louisiana State University and an MA from the University of Wisconsin, where she also pursued doctoral studies.
CFR’s Board of Directors, chaired by David M. Rubenstein, governs CFR and is composed of thirty-six distinguished leaders from across government, business, academia, and journalism. Board members are elected by CFR members on an annual basis and provide oversight and strategic guidance to the president of CFR and senior leaders throughout the organization.