Kiron K. Skinner joined FOX News Channel as a contributor in October 2019 and provides commentary on national and international issues across FOX News Media platforms.
Prior to rejoining the network, Skinner served as Director of the Office of Policy Planning and Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State at the United States Department of State.
In addition to her role at FNC, Skinner serves as the Taube Professor of International Relations and Politics at Pepperdine University. She is also the W. Glenn Campbell Research Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and a Visiting Fellow and Senior Advisor at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC.
Professor Skinner spent many years creating and directing several academic institutes and centers at Carnegie Mellon University. She has also held faculty positions at Hamilton College and the University of California at Los Angeles.
Throughout her career, Skinner has served on numerous federal government advisory boards, focusing on foreign and defense policy. She has been a foreign policy advisor or surrogate for the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush, Newt Gingrich, Rand Paul, Mitt Romney, and Donald Trump. She was a member of the executive committee of the Trump Transition Team in 2016.
Skinner has written extensively on international relations and politics. Her coauthored books Reagan, In His Own Hand (2001) and Reagan, A Life in Letters (2003) were New York Times bestsellers. Reagan, In His Own Hand won the Hoover Institution's Uncommon Book Award and was serialized in the New York Times Magazine. Reagan, A Life in Letters was selected as one of the best books of 2003 by the Los Angeles Times, was Time magazine's cover story on September 29, 2003, and was the subject of an editorial written by the New York Times editorial board on September 29, 2003. Her opinion essays have appeared in CNN.com, Forbes.com, Foreign Policy.com, the National Interest, National Review Online, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post.
Professor Skinner holds MA and Ph.D. degrees in political science and international relations from Harvard University, and undergraduate degrees from Spelman College and Sacramento City College. She received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Molloy College, Long Island.