Thomas Hanson is a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer with the Department of State whose diplomatic postings included East Germany, France, Norway, the Soviet Union, Sweden, and the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. He also participated in the opening of new U.S. embassies in Mongolia and Estonia, worked on the Foreign Relations Committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and served as Director for NATO and European Affairs at the Atlantic Council of the United States in Washington, D.C.
Thomas Hanson is the Diplomat in Residence at the Alworth Institute for International Affairs at the University of Minnesota – Duluth and has taught diplomacy at Carleton College. He serves as Chair of the Minnesota Committee on Foreign Relations, Co-Chair of the Minnesota China Business Council, and is involved with several other organizations, including the U.S. Foreign Policy Working Group of the British International Studies Association.
Hanson frequently speaks on international issues, contributes to media, and delivers an annual U.S. Foreign Policy Update. He holds a BA from the University of Minnesota and graduate degrees from the Fletcher School, the Institute of Advanced International Studies in Geneva, and the National School of Administration in Paris.