President Bush nominated James Shinn '73 to the position of assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs on Tuesday, according to a White House press release.
Shinn, who received both his A.B. and Ph.D. from the Wilson School, awaits confirmation from the Senate. Shinn currently serves as the deputy to the position, which Congress created last fall as a result of "substantial reorganization" of the Defense Department, Shinn said.
Prior to working for the Department of Defense (DoD), Shinn was the National Intelligence Officer for Asia. He was also a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, a Princeton lecturer and a visiting professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. He has written or edited at least five books and has worked in the high-tech industry for many years.
Nolan McCarty, acting dean of the Wilson School, said in an email that Shinn is "a dedicated public servant."
Sheldon Garon, a professor of history and East Asian studies, cited Shinn's Japanese language skills and his "local knowledge" about Asia as important assets. "That's very unusual in the Bush administration, particularly among the Pentagon appointees," said Garon, who studied Japanese history with Shinn while he was a Ph.D student. "He's very pragmatic and very knowledgeable."
While Shinn's work at the National Intelligence Council involved collecting and analyzing international information, he said his future job in the DoD involves recommending "specific courses of action" in "executing the President's and the administration's policies."
His daily work involves the management of "complicated relationships," particularly those regarding Afghanistan, North and South Korea, India-Pakistan, China-Taiwan and Japan, Shinn said.
'A Renaissance man'
Charles Weiss, chair of the Science, Technology and International Affairs Program at Georgetown and former adjunct professor at Princeton, said Shinn is "very well qualified" for the position, adding that the Department of Defense is "lucky to have him."
Shinn's friends and colleagues agreed with the characterization. Peter Gourevitch, a professor at the University of California-San Diego (UCSD), who coauthored a book with Shinn on corporate governance, called Shinn "bright," "friendly" and a "Renaissance man."
Sociology professor Gil Rozman said Shinn "clearly holds the standards of the [foreign policy] discipline and ... has a lot of reasoned judgment." Rozman worked with Shinn on his Ph.D. dissertation and said that Shinn's experience as a national intelligence officer demonstrated his ability to systematically assemble information.
Despite his remarkable experience, Shinn is not "a 'Washington-type,' " said Miles Kahler, another professor at UCSD who became friends with Shinn while both were senior fellows at the Council on Foreign Relations. "He has a wry sense of humor," Kahler added.
"For someone that accomplished, he's a remarkably modest person," Kahler said. "When he's talking to you, you don't get the sense that there's an enormous ego in front of you, which is a useful quality in Washington."
Princeton, part one
A native of Mount Holly, N.J., Shinn attended Burlington Township High School before matriculating at Princeton. He was a member of Ivy Club and practiced karate, according to his Nassau Herald entry. Shinn's thesis, entitled "Eurodollars and Interdependence," analyzed the impact of the Eurodollar market — created by U.S. currency deposited in European banks — on international economic markets.
Edward Morse GS '69, Shinn's thesis adviser, said Shinn "was an extraordinary student and showed intellectual curiosity and rapidly grasped complex thoughts. He was among the most remarkable students I taught. He has an equal interest in politics and making money." Morse, who taught Shinn since his freshman year, said "he's a risk-taker and was entrepreneurial in business."
After his graduation, Shinn worked in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs of the State Department and then enrolled at Harvard Business School, where he obtained his MBA in 1981. Shinn said that retrospectively, there was "a lot of randomness" to this decision. "It's a pattern," Shinn said of people involved in government. "They come in, and they go back out."
In the 15 years that followed, Shinn entered the private sector, working for and founding several high-tech firms but remaining interested in foreign affairs.
"A high-tech business these days can't compete unless you have a global presence," Shinn said, "so there's some synergy there."
Weiss called Shinn a "self-entrepreneur," who "sold out at the top of the dot-com boom, made a lot of money and asked himself what he wanted to do." Ultimately, Shinn decided to focus on international relations.
Princeton, part two
After leaving the private sector, Shinn worked for the Council on Foreign Relations for four years, writing many works on Asian relations. He then enrolled in the Ph.D program at the Wilson School.
Shinn said he wanted to get a Ph.D. because he wanted a better grasp of international relations problems. "When I was at the Council on Foreign Relations," Shinn said, "I kept reinventing wheels and thought I'd go back and study the wheels." He added that he went back to academia because "it's fun to learn."
At Reunions in 1998, Shinn wrote in his class book that, "after 25 years, most of it in Silicon Valley, I'm back at school again, at Princeton of all places. My wife and sons think I'm nuts, but it's fun."
Shinn and his wife Masako have now been married for 25 years and have three children: Kiyoshi, Hiroshi and Alice.
After completing his Ph.D., Shinn taught Wilson School courses on the intersection of business, technology and foreign affairs. He left for Washington in 2003 and soon began working for the National Intelligence Council. He maintained his passion for teaching as a visiting professor at Georgetown.
"He was favorably received," Weiss said. "[The students] understood he was offering a unique course."
Shinn remains active in the Wilson School community, especially as a supporter of the Scholars in the Nation's Service Initiative. "He's provided financial as well as professional development support and mentoring for Scholars," McCarty said. Shinn also serves on the Scholars Advisory Group, which holds meetings twice a year to advise the Dean on the Initiative's programming.
— Princetonian contributor Aaron Hosios and senior writer Tatiana Lau contributed reporting to this story.
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