Our People

Devon Cross is Director of The Policy Forum on International Affairs and has extensive experience in funding research on foreign policy issues having served as Director of Research at Smith Richardson Foundation, President of The Donner Canadian Foundation, and Director of The Gilder Foundation. Ms. Cross serves on the boards of The Peter Munk Charitable Foundation, Intelligence Squared/US, and the Advisory Board for Johns Hopkins SAIS National Security Studies Program, and served on the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board from 2001-2009. Her Washington experience included stints at The Center for Strategic and International Studies, Carnegie Endowment, and the International Security Studies Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center. She studied at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and received her BA from Bryn Mawr College. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Admiral Davidson retired from the U.S. Navy in 2021, following a highly distinguished 39-year military career, which culminated in his service as the 25th Commander of United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) from May 2018 through April 2021. USINDOPACOM is the oldest and largest U.S. combatant command, including 380,000 soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, coast guardsmen, and Department of Defense civilians.

Admiral Davidson has served as a surface warfare officer in frigates, destroyers, cruisers, and aircraft carriers, and was commander of the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group. He was previously the commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command in his first 4-star assignment, the commander of U.S. SIXTH Fleet and commander, Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO as a 3-star, and among other joint, interagency and fleet headquarters assignments, served in the State Department, and in the Office of the Vice President as the Navy’s military aide to the Vice President of the United States. Admiral Davidson’s decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat “V,” a Superior Honor Award from the U.S. Department of State, and other personal, service, unit, and campaign awards. He is is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and holds an M.A. in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College.

Former U.S. Representative J. Randy Forbes is the Naval War College Foundation Senior Distinguished Fellow at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

As a Senior Distinguished Fellow, Forbes shares with students and faculty his perspective on topics such as maritime strategy, naval policy, civil-military relations, and the role of Congress in national security affairs. Forbes joined the Naval War College faculty in January 2017 after representing the Hampton Roads region for 16 years in the U.S. House of Representatives.

While in Congress, Forbes served as a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee. As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Readiness from 2011-2013, Forbes was responsible for setting readiness policy and authorizing funding for operations and maintenance, training, military construction, and munitions procurement. As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces from 2013-2017, Forbes oversaw Navy policy, shipbuilding programs, and weapons procurement, along with elements of naval aviation and the Air Force’s long-range bomber, tanker, and airlift aircraft.

As Subcommittee Chairman and Co-Chair of the Congressional Navy-Marine Corps Caucus, Forbes was widely recognized as the leading authority in Congress on naval issues and as a vocal advocate for the sea services and our men and women in uniform. Throughout his 8 terms in Congress, he was at the forefront of efforts to foster strategic thinking about threats to our national security, lift the threat of defense sequestration, restore military readiness, achieve savings and acquisition reform, and build the Navy, Marine Corps, and other military forces needed for national defense.

In addition to naval issues, Forbes was a leading voice on U.S. security policy towards the Asia-Pacific region. After visiting China in 2005, Forbes founded the Congressional China Caucus to call attention to China’s growing military and economic power and raise awareness among Members of Congress and the public about its implications for the United States. In subsequent years, Forbes chaired a special series of Asia-Pacific oversight hearings and introduced numerous pieces of legislation focused on the region.

In recognition of his work in Congress, Forbes was hailed by the Chief of Naval Operations as “the wind in our strategic sails” and endorsed by seven former Secretaries of the Navy.

He has been recognized with more than a dozen awards for his maritime leadership, including the Navy’s Distinguished Public Service Award and the Navy League's “Outstanding Civilian Leadership” and “Teddy Roosevelt ‘Big Stick’” Awards.

Prior to his service in Congress, Forbes served in the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates, and was an attorney in private practice. A lifelong resident of Chesapeake, Virginia, Forbes is married to Shirley and has four children. Forbes received his B.A. in Political Science from Randolph-Macon College (graduating valedictorian) and his J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School. He is a frequent speaker on national defense issues and his writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The National Interest, The Diplomat, Real Clear Defense, and the Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute.

Barbara Humpton serves as Chief Executive Officer of Siemens USA, using its global leadership in engineering and technology innovation to meet America's toughest challenges, delivering solutions for industry, hospitals, utilities, cities, and manufacturers: from efficient power generation, to digital factories and oil and gas fields, to medical diagnostics, to locomotives, to next-generation software used in every phase of product development.

Prior to joining Siemens USA, Humpton served as President and CEO of Siemens Government Technologies, Inc., a Federally-compliant U.S. organization structured to support government initiatives, as well as Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton where she was responsible for program performance and new business development for technology consulting in the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security. Earlier, Humpton was a Vice President at Lockheed Martin Corporation with responsibility for Biometrics Programs, Border and Transportation Security and Critical Infrastructure Protection, including such critical programs as the FBI’s Next Generation Identification and the TSA’s Transportation Workers’ Identification Credential.

Humpton is a graduate of Wake Forest University with a degree in Mathematics. She resides in Washington, DC with her husband David.

General Jack Keane is a foreign policy and national security expert who provides nationwide analysis and commentary in speeches, articles, congressional testimony and through several hundred television and radio interviews annually. He serves as an advisor to presidents, cabinet officials, members of congress, international leaders, CEOs and business leaders. He is the Chairman of the Institute for the Study of War, a member of the prestigious Secretary of Defense Policy Board, having advised four Defense Secretaries and a member of the 2018 and 2022 Congressional Commission on the National Defense Strategy. 

General Keane, a four-star general, completed 37 years of public service in December 2003, culminating in his appointment as acting Chief of Staff and Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army. As the chief operating officer of the Army for over 4 years, he directed 1.5 million soldiers and civilians in 120 countries, with an annual operating budget of 110 billion dollars. General Keane was in the Pentagon on 9/11 and provided oversight and support for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In late 2006 President Bush invited General Keane to the Oval Office among others to discuss Iraq.  Alone among them, General Keane brought the president a concrete strategic concept, later to be known as the troop "surge" which he helped develop, to change American strategy for the war and improve its execution. During the surge period General Keane conducted frequent trips to Iraq and Afghanistan for senior defense officials. General Keane is a career infantry paratrooper, a combat veteran of the Vietnam War decorated for valor, who spent much of his military life in operational commands, including command of the famed 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and the legendary 18th Airborne Corps, the Army’s largest warfighting organization.  

General Keane is the son of an immigrant mother, a WWII Marine father, a born and raised New Yorker and lifelong NY Yankee fan. He was commissioned an infantry 2nd Lieutenant from Army ROTC as a Distinguished Military Graduate at Fordham University receiving a Bachelor of Science degree and received a Master of Arts degree from Western Kentucky University. He is a graduate of the Army War College and the Army Command and General Staff College.  

Among his awards, General Keane was the first military leader to be honored with the Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Award and the prestigious Bradley Prize. In March of 2020 General Keane was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House. General Keane’s numerous military service medals and citations include two Defense and two Army Distinguished Service Medals, five Legions of Merit, the Silver Star, Bronze Star, three Vietnam Service medals, Combat Infantryman Badge, Master Parachutist Badge and Ranger Tab, to list a few. 

General Paul Selva retired from the United States Air Force in July of 2019 after 39 years of service. He is an aviator whose operational assignments culminated with command of Air Mobility Command and subsequently United States Transportation Command. Immediately prior to his retirement General Selva served as the tenth Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is an advisor to the Sierra Nevada Corporation, serves as a director for the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, and as a trustee for the Aerospace Corporation.

General Selva graduated from the United States Air Force Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering and holds Master of Science degrees from Abilene Christian University in Management and Human Relations and Auburn University in Political Science. He is a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College and served on the first Secretary of Defense Strategic Studies Group.

Laurence Zuriff is the founder and CFO of Xometry, an advanced manufacturing company founded in 2013 and has a 20 year career managing money in the US public equity markets.    

Mr. Zuriff currently chairs the International Economics Working Group of the John Hay Initiative and is a board member of the Alexander Hamilton Society.

Mr. Zuriff holds a B.A. degree from Brown University and an M.A. from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.