Hussain, Rashad

(U.S. Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Washington, D.C.) President Barack Obama announced the appointment of Rashad Hussain as Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on February 13, 2010. As Special Envoy to the OIC, Hussain seeks to deepen and expand the partnerships that the United States has pursued with Muslim communities around the world. Hussain has also served as Deputy Associate Counsel to President Obama, focusing on national security, new media, and science and technology issues. Hussain worked with the National Security Staff to develop the “new beginning” that President Obama outlined in his June 2009 address in Cairo. Before joining the White House, Hussain was a member of the legal staff for the Presidential Transition Team. Hussain previously served as a Trial Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice. Earlier in his career, Hussain was a legislative assistant on the House Judiciary Committee, where he focused on national security-related issues. Hussain received his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal. Upon graduation, he served as a Law Clerk to Damon J. Keith on the U.S. Court of Appeals. Hussain also earned his Master’s degrees in Public Administration at the Kennedy School of Government and in Arabic and Islamic Studies from Harvard University. He attended college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His academic writings have focused on national security, constitutional law, and civil liberties.