Principal, BGR Government Affairs
Lester Munson joined BGR’s International practice after a 26-year career on Capitol Hill and in the Executive Branch. He most recently served as the Staff Director for Chairman Bob Corker of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he led policy, oversight, legislative and communications efforts for a staff of 25 and negotiated committee priorities with the White House, the State Department and Congressional leadership.
In the past two and a half years, the committee has passed into law several bills regarding U.S. policy toward Ukraine and Russia, including major sanctions legislation, has engaged in efforts to fundamentally reform, reauthorize, or modify key foreign assistance programs, including food aid, PEPFAR, arms transfers, and has taken up legislation on the most important foreign policy and national security issues of the day, including the negotiations over the Iranian nuclear program, authorizations for the use of military force, and various international treaties and agreements.
Previously, Mr. Munson was Chief of Staff in Senator Mark Kirk’s (R-Ill.), Washington, DC office. During Lester’s tenure, Senator Kirk became the leading Republican voice in the Senate on Iran and other national security issues.
During the Bush Administration, Mr. Munson was a Deputy Assistant Administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development, where he focused on legislative affairs as well as global health issues. He led legislative efforts to develop and implement the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and won an award for his contribution to the creation of the President’s Malaria Initiative.
Prior to serving in the Bush Administration, at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Munson was the Republican Communications Director and oversaw foreign assistance oversight and legislation. At the House International Relations Committee, he was the Communications Director and Professional Staff Member for Asia-Pacific issues as well as African affairs.
Mr. Munson is a 1989 graduate of the University of Chicago and holds a Master’s degree from St. John’s College in Annapolis. He is married with two children.
Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor, Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs, John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
Founder, Latitude, LLC
Brian Hook is the founder of Latitude, LLC, an international strategic consulting firm based in Washington, DC.
Mr. Hook worked on the Romney campaign as senior advisor on foreign policy. He chaired the foreign policy and national security task forces of the Romney Readiness Project. From 2010-2011, he was the foreign policy director of Governor Tim Pawlenty’s presidential campaign.
Mr. Hook served in a number of positions during the Bush Administration, including Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations; Senior Advisor to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; Special Assistant to the President for Policy, Office of the Chief of Staff; and Counsel, Office of Legal Policy, at the Justice Department.
From 1999-2003, he practiced corporate law at Hogan & Hartson in Washington, D.C.
Before practicing law, he served as a policy advisor to Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and to U.S. Congressman James Leach.
Senior Fellow in National Security, Human Rights First
Heather Hurlburt is a Senior Fellow in National Security at Human RIghts First. Previously, she served as the Executive Director of the National Security Network, an organization whose priorities include working with political leaders, experts, and advocates to create a safer, saner foreign policy. The 2008 presidential election cycle provided the impetus for NSN's progressive national security rapid response structure to augment efforts of candidates and campaigns.
Ms. Hurlburt brings nearly two decades of experience developing, shaping and communicating U.S. foreign policy. For five years she ran her own communications and strategy practice, with a broad client list including individual political, entertainment, and educational leaders, as well as groups such as DATA (Debt AIDS Trade Africa), the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Stanley Foundation, and many others. She is a Senior Adviser to the U.S. in the World Project of the New America Foundation.
Ms. Hurlburt served in the Clinton Administration, both in the State Department and as a Special Assistant and Speechwriter to President Clinton. She was the Washington Deputy Director of the International Crisis Group (ICG) and served as a Program Director at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She spent four years as a member of the U.S. delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Ms. Hurlburt is co-author of US in the World: Talking Global Issues with Americans, published by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Aspen Institute in 2004 to help foreign policy experts and advocates communicate effectively with American citizens. She has published opinion pieces widely in print and online, comments frequently on presidential speech-making and other topics, and blogs regularly at www.democracyarsenal.org.
She is a graduate of Brown University and the George Washington University and lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and son.
Professor of Law, Southern Illinois University School of Law
Professor Mark F. Schultz joined the faculty in 2003. He teaches and writes primarily in the area of intellectual property.
Professor Schultz is a frequent author and speaker known for his work on the law and economics of the global intellectual property system. In one of his most influential projects, he worked with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to construct a groundbreaking global trade secret protection index (the TSPI). The TSPI is influencing policy discussions on this cutting-edge topic in capitals around the world. Other recent projects have included an empirical study that quantified for the first time the backlogs in patent offices worldwide, a report on how patented innovation is meeting global health challenges, and the construction of a new global index of copyright strength.
Professor Schultz is an influential voice in public policy debates regarding intellectual property. He has testified before the U.S. Congress on copyright law at the invitation of the House Judiciary Committee and has briefed the staff of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on trade secret legislation. He speaks frequently around the world about the connection between secure and effective intellectual property rights and flourishing national economies and individual lives, with invitations from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the U.S. Trade Representative, and the U.S. Copyright Office, as well as numerous academic institutions, think tanks, and industry groups. He served as an NGO delegate to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for several years during the WIPO Development Agenda talks. He is also one of the organizers of an ongoing multilateral diplomatic dialogue on best practices in national trade secret laws, and is co-founder of the Center for Protection of Intellectual Property (CPIP) at George Mason University in Washington, D.C.
Among the awards and recognition he has received for his scholarship was the School of Law's Outstanding Scholar of the Year award in 2008. He has been a distinguished visiting scholar at the University of Botswana and a visiting professor at DePaul University College of Law.
Professor Schultz graduated with honors from the George Washington University School of Law. Following law school, he was a judicial clerk for the Hon. Daniel M. Friedman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., and the Hon. Eric G. Bruggink of the United States Court of Federal Claims. Prior to joining academia, he practiced law for a decade, serving as outside general counsel to several tech startups and helping technology companies to expand their businesses and commercialize their intellectual property in dozens of countries. He holds a B.A. in International Economics from George Washington University and has done PhD level coursework in development economics at Southern Illinois University.
He is active in leadership roles in local and national organizations. He has served as chair of the Federalist Society's Intellectual Property Practice Group and the AALS Section on Internet and Computer Law. He is an officer of the American Bar Association's International IP Committee of the International Law Section and the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s Trade Secret Law Committee. He currently is chair of the Academic Advisory Board of the Copyright Alliance.
Professor Schultz teaches Copyright Law, Trade Secret Law, Trademark Law, and a senior seminar on Intellectual Property and Global Development. He established and directs both the Specialization in Intellectual Property Law and the IP Semester in Practice Externship Program. He also co-founded a Legal Globalization Class, offered every other year, that takes students to South Africa and Botswana after spending a semester learning about the legal system, culture, history, and politics of southern Africa. The popular course is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that introduces students to leading lawyers, judges, government officials, and human rights advocates, taking them from Cape Town to Johannesburg to Gaborone as well as many popular destinations including game reserves, national parks, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Cradle of Humankind.
Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor, Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs, John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
Principal, BGR Government Affairs
Lester Munson joined BGR’s International practice after a 26-year career on Capitol Hill and in the Executive Branch. He most recently served as the Staff Director for Chairman Bob Corker of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he led policy, oversight, legislative and communications efforts for a staff of 25 and negotiated committee priorities with the White House, the State Department and Congressional leadership.
In the past two and a half years, the committee has passed into law several bills regarding U.S. policy toward Ukraine and Russia, including major sanctions legislation, has engaged in efforts to fundamentally reform, reauthorize, or modify key foreign assistance programs, including food aid, PEPFAR, arms transfers, and has taken up legislation on the most important foreign policy and national security issues of the day, including the negotiations over the Iranian nuclear program, authorizations for the use of military force, and various international treaties and agreements.
Previously, Mr. Munson was Chief of Staff in Senator Mark Kirk’s (R-Ill.), Washington, DC office. During Lester’s tenure, Senator Kirk became the leading Republican voice in the Senate on Iran and other national security issues.
During the Bush Administration, Mr. Munson was a Deputy Assistant Administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development, where he focused on legislative affairs as well as global health issues. He led legislative efforts to develop and implement the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and won an award for his contribution to the creation of the President’s Malaria Initiative.
Prior to serving in the Bush Administration, at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Munson was the Republican Communications Director and oversaw foreign assistance oversight and legislation. At the House International Relations Committee, he was the Communications Director and Professional Staff Member for Asia-Pacific issues as well as African affairs.
Mr. Munson is a 1989 graduate of the University of Chicago and holds a Master’s degree from St. John’s College in Annapolis. He is married with two children.
Founder, Latitude, LLC
Brian Hook is the founder of Latitude, LLC, an international strategic consulting firm based in Washington, DC.
Mr. Hook worked on the Romney campaign as senior advisor on foreign policy. He chaired the foreign policy and national security task forces of the Romney Readiness Project. From 2010-2011, he was the foreign policy director of Governor Tim Pawlenty’s presidential campaign.
Mr. Hook served in a number of positions during the Bush Administration, including Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations; Senior Advisor to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; Special Assistant to the President for Policy, Office of the Chief of Staff; and Counsel, Office of Legal Policy, at the Justice Department.
From 1999-2003, he practiced corporate law at Hogan & Hartson in Washington, D.C.
Before practicing law, he served as a policy advisor to Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and to U.S. Congressman James Leach.
Senior Fellow in National Security, Human Rights First
Heather Hurlburt is a Senior Fellow in National Security at Human RIghts First. Previously, she served as the Executive Director of the National Security Network, an organization whose priorities include working with political leaders, experts, and advocates to create a safer, saner foreign policy. The 2008 presidential election cycle provided the impetus for NSN's progressive national security rapid response structure to augment efforts of candidates and campaigns.
Ms. Hurlburt brings nearly two decades of experience developing, shaping and communicating U.S. foreign policy. For five years she ran her own communications and strategy practice, with a broad client list including individual political, entertainment, and educational leaders, as well as groups such as DATA (Debt AIDS Trade Africa), the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Stanley Foundation, and many others. She is a Senior Adviser to the U.S. in the World Project of the New America Foundation.
Ms. Hurlburt served in the Clinton Administration, both in the State Department and as a Special Assistant and Speechwriter to President Clinton. She was the Washington Deputy Director of the International Crisis Group (ICG) and served as a Program Director at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She spent four years as a member of the U.S. delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Ms. Hurlburt is co-author of US in the World: Talking Global Issues with Americans, published by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Aspen Institute in 2004 to help foreign policy experts and advocates communicate effectively with American citizens. She has published opinion pieces widely in print and online, comments frequently on presidential speech-making and other topics, and blogs regularly at www.democracyarsenal.org.
She is a graduate of Brown University and the George Washington University and lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and son.
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