SCHOOL of INTERNATIONAL SERVICE

American University · Washington, D.C.

FACULTY BIOGRAPHIES -- Richard Cupitt

Richard T. Cupitt
E-mail: cupitt@american.edu
Phone: (202) 885-2511

Dr. Richard T. Cupitt is a Scholar-In-Residence in the School of International Service of American University. In 2005 he also became the first Expert-on-Mission to the 1540 Committee of the United Nations Security Council, currently reviewing the policies and practices of the Member States in preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery to non-State actors. From January 2002 – July 2004, he was the Special Advisor to the Under Secretary of Commerce in the Bureau of Industry and Security at the U.S. Department of Commerce. In addition to providing counsel to the Under Secretary on a variety of international trade, nonproliferation, and export control issues, his portfolio included coordinating the nonproliferation export control international assistance programs of the Bureau of Industry and Security, directly managing the BIS Office of International Programs (OIP), and functioning as the Department point of contact for the Transshipment Country Export Control Initiative (TECI), the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), and other programs.

Prior to his service in the Department of Commerce, Dr. Cupitt was the Associate Director and Washington Liaison for the Center for International Trade and Security of the University of Georgia (CITS/UGA), and a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC. In addition to his service to the University of Georgia, Dr. Cupitt has had academic posts at Emory University and the University of North Texas.

Dr. Cupitt authored or edited four books on export controls, including To Supply or To Deny (Kluwer, 2003) and Reluctant Champions: U.S. Presidential Policy and Strategic Export Controls-Truman, Eisenhower, Bush and Clinton (Routledge, 2000). His articles on trade and security have appeared in many scholarly and policy journals. He has contributed to the work of several national study commissions, served on US delegations to international export control conferences, regularly testified before Congress on export controls, and was nominated to serve on the President’s Export Council’s Subcommittee on Export Controls (PECSEA) shortly before joining the government. Dr. Cupitt has conducted fieldwork on export controls in more than a dozen countries, and has served as a consultant to several national nuclear laboratories, the OECD, and several governments and organizations among his professional activities.

Back to: Faculty Directory | Faculty Directory -- By Department | SIS Home