Sherry Lee Mueller, Ph.D., Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the School of International Service (SIS), American University, Washington, D.C., teaches a graduate Practicum entitled Cultural Diplomacy and International Exchange. She also teaches a Skills Institute entitled Cultural Diplomacy and Protocol. In spring 2015, Professor Mueller served as the Higher Education Specialist for IBTCI on a bi-national team conducting a mid-term evaluation of a USAID-sponsored scholarship program for Indonesians. This included six weeks of fieldwork in Indonesia. After serving as President of Global Ties U.S. (formerly NCIV) from 1996 to 2011, the NCIV Board of Directors named Sherry President Emeritus. Before NCIV, Sherry worked for the Institute of International Education (IIE) for eighteen years, first as a program officer and then as Director, Professional Exchange Programs. Prior to joining IIE, Ms. Mueller served as an Experiment in International Living Leader to the former Soviet Union, a Liaison Officer for the U.S. Department of State, and a lecturer at the University of Rhode Island.

Ms. Mueller is an active volunteer. After serving for 3 years as the President of the Public Diplomacy Council, she now serves as the Co-President of the newly merged organization, the Public Diplomacy Council of America. She has also served on the boards of other nonprofit organizations including World Learning, PYXERA Global, Friendship Force International, Business for Diplomatic Action, the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy, and the International Student House in Washington D.C. Currently she serves on the AU SIS Dean's Advisory Board.

In May 2019, the Institute of International Education awarded Dr. Mueller a Centennial Medal. She also received the School of International Service Excellence in Teaching Award as an Adjunct Professor in May 2017. In 2011, 'One To World’ presented Ms. Mueller with the Fulbright Award for Citizen Diplomacy for “lifelong contributions to global understanding and cooperation, one handshake at a time, in the Fulbright tradition.” In 2007, Ms. Mueller accepted the SIS Alumna of the Year Award at the German Embassy. She received the U.S. Information Agency's Award for Outstanding Service in 1996, and the Distinguished Alumna Award from the Lake Park High School Educational Foundation in 1995. In appreciation for her active role in alumni affairs at American University, Ms. Mueller received the Alumni Recognition Award in 1990.

Ms. Mueller has lived in Brazil, where she taught English; participated in an Experiment in International Living program in Germany; and has traveled extensively throughout Europe and Southeast Asia. She has served as a speaker for the U.S. Department of State in Saudi Arabia and Japan, giving lectures and conducting workshops on leadership development for nonprofit organizations. Selected publications include “The Impact and Practice of Citizen Diplomacy” in Public Diplomacy Magazine, published by University of Southern California (2012), and “Professional Exchanges, Citizen Diplomacy, and Credibility” in America’s Dialogue with the World, published by the Public Diplomacy Council (2008). In 2008, Georgetown University Press published the book Working World: Careers in International Education, Exchange, and Development that Ms. Mueller coauthored with Mark Overmann. The second edition of Working World was published in 2014.

Ms. Mueller earned her M.A.L.D. and Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. She is a native of northern Illinois.