Daniel W. Fisk returned to IRI in January 2015 as chief operations officer.  He first joined the Institute in September 2009 to coordinate the Institute’s governance programs and from 2010-2014 served as vice president for policy and strategic planning. 

Prior to returning to IRI, Fisk was director of the economic growth initiative at the George W. Bush Institute where he remains a fellow and senior advisor, strengthening the relationship between the two organizations. 

Fisk has also served in a number of positions in the U.S. government, including as special assistant to the president and senior director for Western Hemisphere affairs on the National Security Council (NSC) from October 2005 to January 2009.  He joined the NSC from the U.S. State Department, where he was deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. 

His experience in the U.S. government also includes service as the senior foreign policy and national security advisor to then-Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL); as a senior staff member and associate counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations; as a staff member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs; as deputy director for international counternarcotics matters in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs; as special advisor to the assistant secretary of state for Inter-American Affairs at the State Department; and as the deputy coordinator for Central American public diplomacy in the White House Office of Communications.  Fisk began his work in government as a research associate on the staff of the Republican Study Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In addition to his government service, Fisk was on the staff of the Heritage Foundation, Washington, DC, having served as the deputy director of the Davis Institute for International Studies. 

Fisk holds a juris doctor and master’s degree in government from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Tulsa.  He is a member of the Maryland State Bar Association, as well as the Council on Foreign Relations.  A native of Oklahoma, Fisk and his wife Carmel live in Virginia with their three children.