Amanda J. Dory currently serves as the Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, returning to a role she performed in early 2021. Prior to this appointment she was the Director of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, located at the National Defense University in Washington, DC.

Her previous leadership roles in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (OUSD(P)) include: Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs; Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy; Performing Duties of Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy; Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs; Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy; and acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Plans and Posture. Ms. Dory also served on the National War College faculty and as their associate dean for outreach. She is a career member of the Senior Executive Service and has earned the Presidential Rank Award and various honorary awards.

Ms. Dory is an alumna of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and received a master’s degree with concentrations in international economics and African studies from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.