Dr. Al Khalafalla
President and CEO
Dr. Khalafalla is a leading figure in the Muslim and Arab communities in the United States of America and Canada. He has a strong record of service in areas such as immigrants’ integration and education, interfaith dialogue, and public policies that affect immigrants. He served as the director of Virginia Institute for Peace (2005-2009) and President of Bahrain American Council (2009-2014).He currently serves on the Boards of the Humpty Dumpty Institute, BetaTech College, Virginia Medical Institute, and the United States Institute of Peace Darfur Forum.
Khalafalla has been featured on numerous occasions in the media, and has spoken to a variety of audiences regarding political crisis, peace, and humanitarian efforts in the Middle East and Africa. He is a regular guest on Al Hurra TV, Nile TV, NBC and Virginia TV stations, discussing issues regarding Islam, September 11, Darfur, and Muslims in America.
He has published opinion editorials in The Daily Caller, Al Arabiya News, Fox News, Al Ayam, The Nile, Rayaam, Gulf Daily News, and the Bahrain Tribune. He was a speaker at many National and International conferences such as the International Law and Religion Symposium, United States Institute of Peace Conferences, The National Interfaith Forum, and many others. Dr. Khalafalla also has authored papers on challenges that face religions; regional conflicts in Africa and the Middle East; and U.S. foreign policy.
Khalafalla has been recognized not only as a leader in interfaith communities, but also as an advocate for international peace and humanity. He received the prestigious Humanitarian Award from the Governor of Virginia in 2009. He has also received other awards for his humanitarian and interfaith initiatives, from the University of Louisiana, the University of Virginia, and Richmond University. In 2008 Khalafalla was appointed by the Universal Peace Federation as an Ambassador for Peace, for his dedication to the African and Middle Eastern Peace Initiatives. He was honored by the US Congress on Oct 22nd, 2012 and an American Flag was flown on the Capitol.
Khalafalla received a Bachelor in Computer Science from University of Louisiana, a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Maryland University System, and a Ph.D. in Public Policy from Virginia Commonwealth University. He is married, with one daughter and son.
Congressman Dan Burton (Retired)
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Honorable Dan Burton is the Chairman of Board of Directors of the American Global Institute. Dan Burton is a former United States Representative from Indiana’s Fifth Congressional District. His first term in Congress began in January of 1983. When Congressman Burton assumed the Chairmanship of the House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform in the 105th Congress, he became the first Hoosier Republican to Chair a full House Committee in more than sixty years. The last was Congressman William Robert Wood, who chaired the Committee on Appropriations during the 71st Congress (1929-1931). Congressman Burton served as Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia. Also, he was a Senior Member on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Congressman Burton received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humanities from Capitol University of Integrative Medicine on December 17, 2000. He received an Honorary Doctorate in Political Science from the Graduate School of Dongguk University in the Republic of Korea (2009). He was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Indiana Wesleyan University (2005). As a proud veteran of our Armed Forces, Dan served in the U.S. Army and the U.S. Army Reserves (1957-1962). Before his election to Congress, Mr. Burton held office in the Indiana State Senate (1969-70 and 1981- 82), as AGI as in the Indiana House of Representatives (1967-68 and 1977-80). The Burton family resides in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Congressman Solomon Ortiz (Retired)
Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors
Honorable Solomon Ortiz is the Vice Chairman of Board of Directors of the American Global Institute. Congressman Solomon Ortiz represented the State of Texas in the U.S. Congress for 28 years; prior to that, he was in law enforcement and served in the United States Army.
He served on three major congressional committees, including: the Armed Services Committee (governing military and national security policy), the Natural Resources Committee (which controls oil and gas policy – plus matters related to oceans and water resources), and the Transportation Committee (responsible for all transportation policy, building of infrastructure).
Ortiz’ primary expertise centered on U.S. military readiness and national security matters.
In Congress, Ortiz was an influential player, with close friends throughout the Congress and high ranking members of the Obama Administration. Internationally, Ortiz is well known throughout the Far East, Central Asia, Europe and South America, from decades of travel associated with U.S. military policy and private business development. He also served on a number of informal –– Congressional caucuses that exercised clout at the highest levels on matters related to border security, oil and gas policy, free trade, international affairs, domestic law enforcement, and many more.
A longtime supporter of free trade, Ortiz supported – and got other Members of Congress to support – the 2006 Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the United States.
He remains active in national affairs since his retirement from Congress, working with international partners in educating new congress members about international affairs, transnational security, and global energy policy.
Ambassador Richard Carlson
Director, the Board of Directors
Richard W. Carlson is Vice Chairman of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank engaged in the War on Terrorism. Ambassador Carlson writes a syndicated newspaper column and hosts the “Danger Zone” radio show on WMAL in Washington, DC. He was formerly the CEO of mBLAST, Inc., an Internet software provider which aggregates and disseminates data for business and industry worldwide. Ambassador Carlson was also a partner in Gately-Carlson, Inc. of Washington, DC, a consulting firm serving international trade and security clients.
He is the former President and CEO of King World Television, a Division of King World Productions formed to locate investment, partnership and production opportunities in public television worldwide. Ambassador Carlson had served as President and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
He was the US Ambassador to the Republic of Seychelles from 1991-1992. From 1986-1991, he was Director of the Voice of America and Associate Director of the US Information Agency. He was also host of the weekly foreign affairs broadcast, “On The Line,” and had responsibility for Radio Martí broadcasts to Cuba and all US government TV broadcasts overseas, including the Worldnet TV network and the USIA Television and Film Service.
Ambassador Carlson has spent 30 years in journalism and business. He has received 18 major journalism awards, including three Emmys and the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award. His articles have appeared in numerous publications. He has served as a director and trustee of various corporations and foundations.
Dr. Michael Czinkota
Director, the Board of Directors
Dr. Czinkota teaches international business and marketing in the Graduate School of Business at Georgetown University, where he also served as the chairman of the National Center for Export-Import Studies. He also holds the chair in international marketing at the Birmingham Business School in the U.K. Fluent in Spanish and German, he has held professorial appointments in Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Americas.
Dr. Czinkota served in the U.S. government during the Reagan and Bush Administrations, heading the Office of Trade Finance. He was also the delegate to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. In the Bureau of Export Administration he was senior advisor for export controls. As Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce he was responsible for trade analysis and retaliatory actions. He also was head of the U.S. Delegation to the OECD Industry Committee in Paris and led several trade missions to Asia.
Dr. Czinkota was a partner in a fur trading firm and in an advertising agency. His academic work has focused on export development and the internationalization of small and medium sized firms. He was named as one of the top three contributors to the international business literature and was the 2007 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award in Global Marketing presented by the American Marketing Association.
Dr. Czinkota has worked with the U.S. Department of State on terrorism preparedness and has testified before Congress on the topic. He is the author of Global Business: Positioning Ventures Ahead(Routledge, 2011)which reflects the challenges of international management in a world of conflict and uncertainty. He also wrote two leading college texts, International Marketing 9th editionand International Business, 8hedition.
Dr. Czinkota serves on the Global Advisory Board of the American Marketing Association, the Global Council of the American Management Association, and on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Marketing Science. He is a member of the American Council on Germany. He was named a Distinguished Fellow of the Academy of Marketing Science and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in the United Kingdom.
Dr. Czinkota serves on several corporate boards particularly in the export financing and small business export development area. He has also worked with corporations such as AT&T, IBM, GE, Nestle, and US WEST. He has advised the Executive Office of the President and the U.S. General Accountability Office on trade policy issues. He also serves as advisor to the United Nations and the World Trade Organization.
Dr. Czinkota was born and raised in Germany and educated in Austria, Scotland, Spain, and the United States. He is fluent in English, German and Spanish. He studied law and business administration at the University of Erlangen-Nurnberg and was awarded a two-year Fulbright Scholarship. He holds an MBA in international business and a Ph.D. in logistics from The Ohio State University.