Middlebury Institute graduates discuss where they are working today, how the Institute helped them get there, and what advice they’d give to current and future MIIS students.
My name is Cyrus Jabbari and I graduated with my MA in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies from the Middlebury Institute in 2020.
I am currently working at the U.S. Department of Defense, where I serve as the chief data officer at the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. (Update: In May 2025, Jabbai was hired as Chief Data Officer for U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM))
My boss is essentially the chief technology officer for the Department of Defense, which is one of the largest organizations on Earth. The chief technology officer sets the policy standards and oversees investment for the Department of Defense’s research and development budget, which is basically all of the innovation that occurs within the Pentagon and across the military services.
A few years ago, new leaders requested an enterprise-wide view of where all of our research and development (R&D) investments lie. It turns out the Department of Defense invests roughly $145 billion annually in research and development. That’s larger than the top three NASDAQ-listed firms’ annual R&D budgets combined.
In the past five years, the Department of Defense has invested roughly $500 billion in R&D. So this is a massive data question. But this afforded me the opportunity to start to develop prototypes, demonstrate their impact, and further scale those advanced analytic capabilities to the point where probably my most fond memory and exciting and inspiring memory happened.
A few years ago, I was asked to brief the deputy secretary of defense, the second-highest person in the DoD, often known as the chief operations officer, on an advanced analytics capability using AI—the approach my team and I developed.
After going through this demonstration using all sorts of nifty digital interfaces, the DepSecDef asked me, “And what was your training? Are you a computer scientist? Did you go to MIT and study something like that?” I said, “No, ma’am. I studied political science, and I got my degree from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.”
And she said, “I’m a political scientist too.” And maybe a year later, I found myself as the first-ever chief data officer for defense research and engineering. Turns out that you don’t need to be a complete subject matter expert to make an impact in the real world.
What you really need is to have a foundational understanding of how you can take your intellectual curiosity, apply it to real-world problems, and practice that foundational knowledge over and over again. And if it weren’t for the Middlebury Institute, I wouldn’t have been able to make that impact so quickly and bring real-world impact to research and development investments for the defense community.
I’m an American of Iranian descent. I was always interested in Iranian culture and Iranian history, but I also always had an interest in science and technology. While completing my BA in international relations from University of Southern California, I took on an internship at the Congressional Research Service, where I was introduced to some mentors who were Middlebury Institute alumni.
They took this green intern and introduced me to other colleagues within their network, and I soon found out that people from these incredibly impressive international organizations, national governments, think tanks, industry, all of these folks also were connected to the Middlebury Institute.
I came to Middlebury and wanted to study more about this intersection of science and technology, national security, language, and regional affairs. At the Institute, I got to study Farsi and received one-on-one tutoring with the head of the Persian language school at the Defense Language Institute. I participated in a semesterlong nuclear negotiation simulation that’s world famous and learned memo writing on chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons from someone who helped with the dismantlement of Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal.
As an undergraduate, I was writing reports on Syrian chemical weapons issues. At the Institute, I got to sit in my first class with foreign affairs officers from the United States military, a diplomat from another country, and a military officer from another country who all worked on that very issue in real time.
The Middlebury Institute affords you the opportunity to be intellectually curious, and I’ve found that the government is a place that champions those who can take intellectual curiosity and apply to tough problems with solutions, as well.
As an undergraduate, I was writing reports on Syrian chemical weapons issues. At the Institute, I got to sit in my first class with foreign affairs officers from the United States military, a diplomat from another country, and a military officer from another country who all worked on that very issue in real time.
We need great talent in national and international security—people with thoughtful leadership, curiosity, drive, and truly deliberative judgment. When I joined the Institute, I found that there were a lot of other students, my classmates, who felt the same way and were quickly able to move into leadership positions across the international security arena after graduating.
Honing those niche skills, whether in language, memo writing, open-source research, diplomacy, or translation and interpretation would truly allow you to be able to set yourself apart. Entering the workforce with a trusted certification, if not a degree from Middlebury Institute, shows you are world-ready. It was truly the best experience of my life.
| by Angela Izi Nkusi
On August 6, 2025, the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) is hosting an event to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, honoring and elevating the voices of people impacted by nuclear use and testing.
Middlebury Institute alum Aleksandra Zubenko interned at the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), supporting global disarmament and nonproliferation to promote global security.
| by Caitlin Fillmore
Nuclear nonproliferation and Middle East experts from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies shared their knowledge across national and international media.
