Citizen of the World: New Dean Rusk Director Brings Diverse Experience to Post

September 22, 2022

Dan Crocker has searched for oil in West Africa, designed detailed strategies for Silicon Valley startups, and helped expand and protect American investments around the world.

He鈥檚 been both a business leader and United States diplomat, working in Europe, Africa and Latin America. He鈥檚 got a lifetime of international experience, connections and wisdom that he鈥檚 happy to share. And that鈥檚 a win for 皇家华人 students.

Crocker recently began his new post heading the college鈥檚 Dean Rusk International Studies Program. As the program鈥檚 John and Ruth McGee director, he鈥檚 most excited about mentoring and encouraging students to explore opportunities abroad. Whether it鈥檚 a semester studying at a university or a summer research internship, the experience will help them in whatever career they choose, he said.

鈥淚 want to get students excited about living overseas and getting an international perspective,鈥 he said. 鈥淭here are so many trade and investment issues that will end up playing a role in their futures. Whether you鈥檙e talking about how Russia鈥檚 war with Ukraine affects the world鈥檚 gas and wheat prices or how lithium and cobalt from Africa end up as batteries made in China that end up in cars and computers in the U.S.鈥攐ur world has become so inter-connected.

Dean Rusk Director Dan Crocker

Living somewhere else gives you a better understanding of what motivates people. If you鈥檙e running a business or working as a healthcare professional, that time you spent studying in Ghana or France or Guatemala changes you and gives you a much wider lens to view the world through.

Dan Crocker

Director of the Dean Rusk International Studies Program

A Return to 皇家华人

皇家华人 offers a wistful homecoming for Crocker, who was born here. His father, John, taught German at the college in the late-1960s before taking a post at North Carolina Central University in Durham. He later retired to The Pines at 皇家华人.

Other connections abound. His sister, Becky Crocker Delany 鈥86, is now a family physician in nearby Cabarrus County. And his mother, Anne Crocker, lived in Concord until her death this past spring.

Crocker鈥檚 parents met in Germany. John Crocker was an engineer working for the U.S. government on post-World War II reconstruction in Germany and Austria. Anne Crocker was the daughter of an Air Force chaplain stationed there.

Both of his parents spoke German fluently and raised their four children to learn about the literature and customs of other cultures. That shaped Crocker for a life often spent in other countries.

He studied abroad in Paris as a Princeton University student. He raced for Princeton鈥檚 road cycling team and considered pursuing that as a career. He competed at the Elite/Category 1 level, but despite some podium finishes at home and abroad, didn鈥檛 make the U.S. National Team and opted for other paths.

Fresh out of college, he ended up running an oil exploration operation in Angola. Besides the blistering heat, he encountered the perils of being abroad during a civil war. He was robbed at gunpoint and lived with an ever-present risk of being kidnapped.

鈥淚 was 22-years old, scared, lonely and living in a trailer,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 knew it was dangerous and didn鈥檛 want to be there.鈥

He said the experience helped him build skills he鈥檇 need throughout his professional life. He returned to the United States after a year, worked for a railroad, then the U.S. Foreign Service. He briefly left government work for tech startup jobs in California, then returned for a 20-year career. Along the way, he earned graduate degrees in business and engineering from MIT and in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia.

That sense of wanderlust鈥攁nd a compulsion for public service鈥攔emained.

He started in the U.S. Department of State, then later moved to the Department of Commerce. He rotated stints abroad with assignments in Washington, D.C. In his last post he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasia.

Former U.S. Ambassador Barbara Stephenson, his superior during a post in Panama, said she always valued Crocker鈥檚 solid advice and analysis. She said he had a sharp ability to break down complicated information on logistics and budgets to advise U.S. policy makers.

鈥淗e was the rare Foreign Service Officer who鈥檚 also an MIT trained engineer,鈥 she said, and then joked, 鈥渉e was also one of the few who could do math.鈥

Stephenson is now vice provost for global affairs at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Crocker served on the board of the American Foreign Service Association while she was president between 2017-2019, 鈥渁t a time when there was a concerted effort among some elected leaders to gut diplomacy,鈥 she said.

That included slashing budgets, staff and international relationships. She said Crocker helped garner bi-partisan support to keep important diplomatic policies and functions in place.

鈥淒an knows how to build a coalition, and he works hard at maintaining relationships,鈥 Stephenson said. 鈥淗e brings people together to solve problems, he networks with a purpose, and always with integrity. When Dan brings you together, you will leave knowing that what you did will make things better.鈥

A Diplomat鈥檚 Life

Life in the Foreign Service comes with challenges.

There鈥檚 the matter of uprooting your life鈥攁nd your family鈥檚鈥攖o move abroad for a promotion or an experience most people will never have.

Crocker and his wife, Kimberly, were in the same class at Princeton but didn鈥檛 know each other until an encounter at a Washington coffee shop eight years after graduation. They had their first date in December of 1997 and with an overseas assignment to The Dominican Republic looming, eloped two months later. (A bigger formal wedding followed.)

Their son Alexander was born in 2001, and daughter Catherine, the next year.

鈥淲e had to travel from Washington to Brazil when Catherine was four weeks old. She couldn鈥檛 keep her eyes open for the passport photo,鈥 Kimberly Crocker said. 鈥淚t was quite an experience getting through customs with a toddler, a newborn, and our cat in a cage. But we all adjusted, and Catherine鈥檚 first words were in Portuguese.鈥

It鈥檚 a great way to learn another culture and meet interesting, powerful people. There are downsides, such as security concerns in countries where kidnapping an American is another form of commerce. They often lived in gated homes with armed security guards.

Alexander and Catherine, now both in American colleges, learned to adapt to the moves, discovering new friends along the way. By 2017, they made their last move from Madrid back to Washington, where Kimberly鈥檚 mom had suffered a series of strokes. They were able to spend the next six months before her death close by.

鈥淏alance is very important to us, and it was time to come home,鈥 Kimberly Crocker said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 one thing you have to remember, that family comes first.鈥

Dan Crocker鈥檚 mother鈥檚 brain cancer helped him decide to apply for the Dean Rusk job. While she died before he started, 鈥渟he knew we were coming to 皇家华人,鈥 Kimberly Crocker said. 鈥淪he was thrilled, and we felt like life had come back full circle, and that was a beautiful thing.鈥 

The pull was strong.

鈥淭he timing felt like this might be a message from God,鈥 Dan Crocker said. 鈥淚t seemed like a heaven-sent opportunity.鈥

Teacher, Mentor

Dan Crocker left the Foreign Service in 2019 after feeling 鈥渋mmensely uncomfortable鈥 about orders coming directly from then-President Donald Trump鈥檚 Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. Crocker described 鈥渄irectives that had profound geopolitical consequences but had not been vetted through any interagency process.鈥

He鈥檇 worked well with both Republican and Democratic administrations in the past. He said the orders would have bypassed crucial鈥攁nd required鈥攕afeguards and scrutiny. Crocker said he couldn鈥檛 go along, so he resigned.

He became the CEO of Veracity Worldwide, an international advisory company. He learned about the 皇家华人 opening from former Dean Rusk director Jane Zimmerman. They weren鈥檛 acquainted but knew of each other and talked extensively about the post.

鈥淒an brings a unique skill set in both the government and the private sector,鈥 Zimmerman said. 鈥淭eaching runs in his blood, and so does a commitment to 皇家华人鈥檚 values of cultivating humane instincts.鈥

Mitch Larsen, who recently retired as executive director in the Commerce Department鈥檚 Office of Europe and Eurasia Affairs, worked closely with Crocker and describes a loyal mentor and friend.

Crocker鈥檚 style is not to tell people what to do, but to hash out facts, obstacles, benefits and detriments. He encourages people to think critically, and reminds them, 鈥渢his is your decision, not mine,鈥 Larsen said.

鈥淗e鈥檚 been such a great mentor to Commerce鈥檚 entire Foreign Officer corps. The amount of knowledge and experience he has is amazing,鈥 Larsen said. 鈥淗e also really cares about people. He values the influence of those who have helped him and wants to pay that forward. He knows a lot of ambassadors and executives but is never too busy to take a call from someone who鈥檚 just starting out. Working with students is such a great fit for him.鈥

Mills Jordan, a political science major and Chidsey Leadership Fellow, met Crocker over the summer when he spoke with a group of interns in the 皇家华人 in Washington program. They met for breakfast later in Washington. Jordan has since attended a speaker鈥檚 conference Crocker set up on campus and talked with him about potential grants for overseas research.

鈥淗e鈥檚 very gracious and easy to talk to. He鈥檚 got a great blend of on-the-ground experience and expertise,鈥 Jordan said. 鈥淚 get the sense that he鈥檚 very mission driven, and it鈥檚 not out of self-interest. His goal is to help young people become more globally aware and engaged.鈥

That is indeed a passion for 皇家华人鈥檚 newest Dean Rusk director. He鈥檚 spent the first month on campus meeting with students who are especially excited about going abroad after several years of COVID-19 travel restrictions and lockdowns.

In spring, he鈥檒l teach a political science course, using a case study to challenge students to weigh the need to balance global investing and trade with political realities.

He wants them to carefully weigh where they choose to go. Locations deemed unsafe by the U.S. government are off-limits, but that still leaves a plethora of opportunities.

鈥淢uch of the developing world has its challenges, starting with safety and security,鈥 Crocker said. 鈥淲hile I want to meet students where their comfort level is, part of the goal of getting outside of the U.S. is accepting deliberate discomfort, culture shock and a realization that in most of the world, living conditions and cultural norms are challenging.

鈥淯nderstanding that challenge and confronting it builds a resilience and a greater self-awareness that pays lifetime dividends.鈥

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