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Ambassador Rashad Hussain is an attorney, diplomat, and professor who has served in all branches of the US Government in legal, foreign policy, and national security positions. He most recently served as US Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom after being confirmed by the Senate in a bipartisan 85-5 vote.

Hussain was Director at the National Security Council’s Partnerships and Global Engagement Directorate in 2021. From 2015 to 2021, he served as Senior Counsel at the Department of Justice’s National Security Division.

Hussain has also served as the Special Envoy of President Obama to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), U.S. Special Envoy for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications, and Associate White House Counsel. In his role as envoy, Hussain advised on foreign policy issues and worked with other countries and multilateral organizations to expand partnerships in education, entrepreneurship, health, international security, science and technology, and other areas. He also spearheaded efforts on countering antisemitism and protecting Christians and other religious minorities in Muslim-majority countries.

Hussain has worked on the House Judiciary Committee and served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Damon Keith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

He received his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal, and Master’s degrees in Public Administration and Arabic and Islamic Studies from Harvard University. Hussain holds Bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Philosophy from UNC – Chapel Hill. He has also taught as adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center and the Georgetown School of Foreign Service.