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Dr. Rebecca Bill Chavez is president and CEO of the Inter-American Dialogue, a hemispheric organization that builds networks of cooperation and action to advance democratic resilience, shared prosperity, social inclusion, and sustainable development across the Americas. She has over 30 years of experience in academia, policymaking, and government service.
Dr. Chavez served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs from 2013 until 2016 for which she was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service. At the Pentagon, she prioritized Women, Peace, and Security initiatives, combatting the militarization of law enforcement, and expanding defense institution-building programs. Her areas of focus included shaping Defense Department contributions to the Central America Strategy, moving the U.S.- Mexico relationship beyond the counternarcotics focus, supporting the Colombian peace process, resetting defense relations with Argentina and Brazil, and establishing a productive dialogue with Cuba on humanitarian assistance and disaster response.
From 2001 to 2013, Dr. Chavez was a professor of political science at the United States Naval Academy, where she earned tenure and focused her research on democracy and the rule of law. She taught a wide variety of comparative politics and international relations courses, including Latin American and Caribbean Politics, Democratization, Security in the Americas, and United States-Latin America Relations.
Dr. Chavez is the author of The Rule of Law in Nascent Democracies (Stanford University Press). Her work has appeared in edited volumes and scholarly journals, including The Oxford Handbook of Law and Politics, Courts in Latin America (Cambridge University Press), Comparative Politics, Latin American Politics and Society, and The Journal of Latin American Studies. Her opinion pieces have been published in The New York Times, Foreign Policy, El País, The Hill, and Defense One.
Raised in Austin, Texas, Dr. Chavez received her Ph.D. and M.A. in political science from Stanford University and her B.A. in public and international affairs from Princeton University. She is a member of the Princeton University Institute for Regional and International Studies Advisory Board, the Center for Media Integrity in the Americas Board of Directors, the Leadership Council for Women in National Security (LCWINS) Steering Committee, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Climate Migration Council. She is the recipient of multiple academic grants, including a Fulbright Scholarship.
