President Joe Biden has nominated Rashad Hussain, an Indian-American lawyer and diplomat, as ambassador-at-large to lead the state department’s international religious freedom office, which, among other things, publishes an annual report on the state of religious freedom around the world.
Hussain is the first Muslim to be nominated to serve as the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom.
The announcement underscores the President’s commitment to build an Administration that looks like America and reflects people of all faiths, an official White House statement read.
Hussain is Director for Partnerships and Global Engagement at the National Security Council. He previously served as Senior Counsel at the Department of Justice’s National Security Division. During the Obama Administration, Rashad served as US Special Envoy to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), US Special Envoy for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications, and Deputy Associate White House Counsel.
Hussain earned a JD from Yale Law School, and master’s degrees in public administration at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He has also taught at Georgetown’s school of foreign service.