Merissa Khurma

Merissa Khurma is nonresident fellow at the Baker Institute at Rice University. She served as program director of the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center (2018-2025). She has leadership experience in strategy building and strategic communications, working in a range of projects in the Middle East, North Africa, West Africa that focused on economic development, the refugee crisis, education, youth, women’s rights and labor force participation and governance. Khurma was a Jordanian diplomat, serving as director of the Office of Jordan’s Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein (2010- 2013) and as press attaché and director of the Information Bureau at the Embassy of Jordan in Washington, D.C. (2003-2010). Khurma has a master of public administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, a master of science in international security and foreign policy from Georgetown University, and a bachelor of art in political science from McGill University. She was adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service focusing on leadership.