The daydreaming Sonoma student who became an expert on foreign relations
“National Security Challenges in the Trump Administration” is the topic of a September 7 conversation with Dr. Kori Schake, a prominent foreign-policy expert, author and Sonoma Valley native. A Stanford grad who taught at West Point and has worked for the National Security Council, she also fondly admits to getting kicked out of class in elementary school.
The event is another Barn Talk, a conversational evening with prominent Sonoma Valley High School grads held in an informal setting – in this case, the historic Redwood Barn at Gundlach Bundschu winery.
Schake was raised in Sonoma Valley and is the daughter of Wayne and Celia Schake. She attended El Verano Elementary School, Altimira Middle School before graduating from SVHS 1980.
She went on to Stanford University, earning a International Relations degree in 1984, and received her Ph.D. in Public Policy from the University of Maryland in 1996, but recalls important influences from her days in Sonoma public schools.
Schake said she is especially grateful for Sonoma Valley High School teachers, Mr. Delong for teaching her Shakespeare, and Mr. Newsom for challenging her to think about what the Romans would be impressed with in our contemporary society.
She is also grateful for Mr. Rayner and Mr. Sperring for throwing her out of their respective Altimira classes, and Mr. Congdon for doing the same at El Verano Elementary so that she had plenty of time to daydream.
Schake has served in various policy roles including at the White House for the National Security Council; at the Department of Defense for the Office of the Secretary and Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the State Department for the Policy Planning
A Senior Policy Advisor to the McCain-Palin campaign in 2008, Schake is currently a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Her recent publications include “Republican Foreign Policy After Trump,” “National Security Challenges for the Next President,” and “Will Washington Abandon the Order?”
A contributing editor at the Atlantic, she is the editor, with Jim Mattis, of the book “Warriors and Citizens: American Views of Our Military.”
Schake will be joined by Tim Gray, a SVHS grad in 1980. The evening begins at 5 p.m. with food and beverages for purchase. Conversation follows at 6 p.m.
Tickets are $35 and benefit the Sonoma Education Foundation. Students are free. Svgreatschools.org
