MU Prof Named CFR Education Ambassador

Millersville University Professor Robert Bookmiller, Ph.D., has been named a 2025-2026 Council on Foreign Relations Education Ambassador. Facilitated by CFR Education, the educational arm of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Ambassador Program brings together educators from across the country who are dedicated to helping students make sense of the world around them. Ambassadors champion global literacy, ensuring that students not only understand global issues but also see their own role in shaping them.

Bookmiller was among 80 faculty and administrators from across the nation chosen for the Higher Education Ambassador Program, an eight-month engagement that connects educators with free educational resources, professional development activities and a network of like-minded professionals.

Ambassadors will discover creative ways to integrate global affairs into their classes, strengthen their teaching practice, provide feedback to the Council on Foreign Relations, and learn how to use CFR Education's award-winning classroom resources to help students build global literacy skills. Many will also share what they've learned about global literacy with colleagues, presenting at their institutions or at regional and national conferences.

"Educators are on the frontlines protecting America's democracy," said Caroline Netchvolodoff, vice president of education at the Council on Foreign Relations. "The Ambassador Program allows us to bring together those who are leading the charge in advancing students' global literacy so that we can learn from their wealth of experience."

The Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank established in 1921, is considered one of the most influential foreign policy-related institutions in the United States, according to Bookmiller. It publishes the scholarly journal "Foreign Affairs."

"I have utilized CFR materials for decades in my U.S. Foreign Policy courses, especially the semester-long National Security Council simulations, in which students research and portray U.S. policymakers (Secretary of State, UN Ambassador, etc.) as they grapple with a pressing international issue and then 'advise' the President on options. For my spring 2025 course, students focused on the nuclear threat from North Korea throughout the semester, and during the last week, participated in a NSC simulation in the classroom."

Through the Ambassador Program, Bookmiller is hoping to further develop the CFR resources available for his courses, experiment with new classroom exercises/group projects and learn from colleagues across the country.

He teaches comparative politics and foreign policy courses in the Department of Government, Law, and International Relations and has published widely in journals such as "Canadian Foreign Policy" and the "British Journal of Canadian Studies." His most recent book, co-authored with Dr. Kirsten Nakjavani Bookmiller, is the second edition of "The United Nations" (Chelsea House/Infobase, 2023).