Dr. Todd A. Schmidt, COL USA (Ret.) - Chief Academic Advisor

Colonel Todd A. Schmidt, Ph.D., currently serves as the Diplomatic Studies Foundation’s Chief Academic Advisor. Previously he was the director of the Army University Press at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He was the Editor-in-Chief of Military Review Journal – The Army’s premiere professional journal for practitioners. He also served as Executive Producer of Army University Films, informing professional military education across Army University and beyond. He was a Senior Military Fellow to the Command and General Staff College Foundation; non-resident Fellow to the West Point/USMA, Simon Center for the Professional Military Ethic; non-resident Fellow to the National Institute for Deterrence Studies; Senior Fellow to the Global and National Security Institute, University of South Florida; Senior Fellow to the U.S. Diplomatic Studies Foundation; and an Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) Leadership Fellow. 

Colonel Schmidt’s experience includes working at the highest levels of the Department of Defense and with Combatant Commands. He served in the Immediate Office of the Secretary of Defense coordinating with the White House and National Security Council. He served on the Staff of the Department of the Army and in the Office of the Chief of Staff of the Army working on long-range budget strategy and enterprise business transformation initiatives. He has significant experience drafting national policy and advising global missile defense planning. He has worked closely with NATO, Middle East, and Indo-Pacific allies and partners leading NIMBLE TITAN, the Department of Defense’s premier international missile defense strategic policy wargame series. Colonel Schmidt has deployed multiple times throughout the United States Central Command Area of Responsibility and is a recipient of the Defense Superior Service Medal, two Bronze Star Medals, and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal. He has been inducted into the Honorable Order of Saint Barbara and the Honorable Order of Saint Gabriel the Archangel.

Colonel Schmidt holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from University of Kansas; MPA, Georgetown University; MMAS, School of Advanced Military Studies; is a distinguished military graduate from Indiana University; and a former Indiana Governor’s Fellow. He is published in several outlets, such as AUSA’s ARMY Magazine. His book, Silent Coup of the Guardians, recently released by University Press of Kansas, has been recognized by Army University for its excellence in scholarship and positive contribution to the Command and General Staff College mission and reputation. He is married and resides in Overland Park, Kansas.