Dr. Julie Taylor is Executive Director of the International Law Institute (ILI), bringing more than 20 years of experience directing global programs, managing policy research, and expanding organizational funding. Throughout her career, she has built partnerships across U.S. and foreign governments, think tanks, academic institutions, and funding agencies. She has also designed and led professional training programs for policymakers, military personnel, and higher education leaders.

Before joining ILI, Dr. Taylor served as Senior Director of Academic Relations for the Fulbright Program at the Institute of International Education. In this role, she led the national outreach strategy and managed engagement on behalf of the U.S. Department of State with hundreds of universities. As Director of Research at both American University’s School of International Service and George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, she expanded the universities’ global initiatives. Her efforts resulted in a 55% increase in funding at AU and growth in sponsored research at GWU from $5.8M to $11M.

Dr. Taylor’s background in professional training and development also includes her work as a Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation. There, she secured more than $2.5M in funding from agencies including the U.S. Department of Defense and Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense to conduct research and run training modules on strategy, governance, and the rule of law. Her academic experience includes serving as a professor in the Near Eastern Studies Department at Princeton University, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University’s Olin Institute for Strategic Studies, and a trustee of the American Institute for Iranian Studies.

Dr. Taylor holds a Ph.D. from UCLA and has lived and worked extensively in Egypt, Jordan, and Iran, publishing on civil-military and regime-clerical relations. Under her leadership, ILI continues its commitment to strengthening legal infrastructure and judicial systems, providing governments and professionals worldwide with the targeted legal training and technical assistance needed to promote good governance and economic development.