Professor Audrey Kurth Cronin of Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, is one of the world’s leading experts on security and how conflicts end. She is a Trustees Professor of Security and Technology and the founding director of the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology (CMIST) at Carnegie Mellon University.  Her career incorporates experience in both academic and policy positions, in the US and abroad. Prior to her current post she was a Distinguished Professor at American University in Washington, DC and the founding director of the Center for Security, Innovation, and New Technology at American University. Prior to this, she served as faculty member and director of War and Statecraft at the US National War College. Before that she was Specialist in Terrorism at the Congressional Research Service, advising Members of Congress in the aftermath of 9/11. She also held a number of positions in the US executive branch, including in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy, and was Director of Studies for Oxford University’s Changing Character of War program. She has been Chairman of the Global Agenda Council on Terrorism of the World Economic Forum and a speaker at the WEF’s annual meetings in Davos.