William B. McAllister received his Ph.D. in Modern European and Diplomatic History from the University of Virginia. For two decades McAllister served in historical researcher and supervisory positions at the Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State. He directed a team of professional historians who interacted with U.S. government policy makers desiring historical perspectives as they formulated and implemented policy in both classified and unclassified settings. McAllister also supervised a specialized history curriculum taught to recently hired U.S. diplomats as part of their orientation training. McAllister has published books and scholarly articles about the historical evolution of international drug policy, government information management policy, and diplomatic practice. Dr. McAllister currently teaches aspiring policymakers as a faculty member of the Georgetown University Graduate School of Foreign Service, Washington, D.C.

Session Description: University professors often complain that government officials do not utilize research-based insights in formulating policy. This session explores difficulties of, and realistic opportunities for, translating academic knowledge into useful information for policy makers and policy implementers. Dr. McAllister will draw on his experience working directly with officials who define problems, make decisions, and expend money to implement policy. He will highlight the ways in which academically trained experts often fail to understand the motivations or perspectives that drive policy creator-implementors. McAllister will also draw from his historical research publications to provide additional examples. The session will enable attendees to deepen their own assessments about the possibilities and limitations that bound what academics can expect to achieve through interacting with officials and bureaucracies. Dr. Gienow-Hecht will also contribute her experiences, especially with regard to academic experts who interact with news media.