Elisa Zhai Autry

Expertise

• US Foreign Policy
• Public Diplomacy
• Religion
• China
• Taiwan
• International Education

Research interests

• Education
• International Affairs
• Politics, Institutions, and Public Opinion
• History

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  Elisa Zhai Autry

  Research Fellow

  Short Bio

  Elisa Zhai Autry is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. An accomplished scholar and foreign affairs professional, she previously served as a principal policy advisor on Global China and on East Asia and Pacific Affairs at the US Department of State. Dr. Autry also taught sociology and Asian studies, led research at major universities, and spearheaded international exchange programs in Washington, DC.

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  Mid-Length Bio

  Elisa Zhai Autry is a research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, where she contributes to the Human Security Project, advancing security, liberty, and prosperity in authoritarian countries.

  Previously, Dr. Autry served as principal policy advisor on Global China and East Asia and Pacific Affairs in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the US Department of State. As the bureau’s China expert and chief liaison for diplomatic affairs involving China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, she played a key role in shaping public diplomacy strategies and advancing US foreign policy objectives worldwide.

  In this capacity, Dr. Autry advised senior leadership, led high-level diplomatic meetings and dialogues, oversaw over 150 exchange programs, coordinated communications with US embassies worldwide, facilitated interagency collaboration, trained new diplomats on China strategies, and guided the Department’s efforts to counter foreign malign influence through public outreach initiatives.

  Dr. Autry also directed global China programming in the Department of State’s US Speaker Program, spearheading initiatives across the East Asia and Pacific and Western Hemisphere regions. In this role, she deployed over one hundred distinguished American experts internationally to promote US strategic interests and counter foreign interference.

  Before her public service career, Dr. Autry was a sociology professor focusing on the role of religion in social and political change in Chinese societies. She taught at leading universities, including Miami University, George Mason University, the Catholic University of America, and Baylor University, and has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals. Beyond academia, Dr. Autry has also managed multimillion-dollar educational and exchange programs, with an emphasis on promoting the rule of law, religious freedom, American studies, and international education at Washington-area nonprofit organizations.

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  To view, the complete bio visit https://www.hoover.org/profiles/elisa-zhai-autry.