Richard Lugar is a senior transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF). Named in his honor, the Richard G. Lugar Institute for Diplomacy and Congress is a GMF program that works to change the way the U.S. Congress relates to the international community by improving communication between the Washington diplomatic corps and Congress. At the end of his term in the U.S. Senate in January 2013, Richard Lugar was the most senior Republican in that body and the longest-serving Indiana lawmaker. Respected globally as an international statesman and leader on nuclear disarmament, Lugar was the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and twice served as that committee’s chairman. He holds 46 honorary degrees from colleges and universities in 15 states and the District of Columbia, and was the fourth person ever named Outstanding Legislator by the American Political Science Association.

In addition to his work with The German Marshall Fund, Richard Lugar is also the president of the Lugar Center, a non-profit organization focusing on nuclear non-proliferation, food security, and other issues.  Lugar also recently announced the creation of the Lugar Academy at the University of Indianapolis, which includes a Washington semester internship program for University of Indianapolis students and other student leaders.  Lugar was also recently named a professor of practice and distinguished scholar at the new School of Global and International Studies at Indiana University.

Lugar graduated first in his class at both Shortridge High School in Indianapolis and Denison University in Granville, Ohio. He attended Pembroke College at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, studying politics, philosophy, and economics. Lugar volunteered for the U.S. Navy in 1957, ultimately serving as an intelligence briefer for Admiral Arleigh Burke, chief of Naval Operations.