Thomas Zimmerman was the Director of Programs at the Pacific Council on International Policy, where he oversaw programming for Council members and the general public. President-elect Joe Biden has appointed Thomas Zimmerman as a Special Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel.

He started his career working in Kabul, Afghanistan, with American Councils for International Education. After working on Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential campaign, Thomas joined the Pakistan Desk at the Department of Defense before moving to the White House to serve as Special Assistant to the National Security Advisor. In 2012, he managed the national security and foreign policy research portfolio for President Obama’s reelection campaign. Most recently, Thomas worked at the Center on International Cooperation and as a visiting scholar at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, focusing on Afghanistan, Somalia, and Chinese regional policy. He specializes in the facilitation of Track II dialogues.

Thomas holds a BA from Williams College and an MALD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He is originally from Austin, Texas.