Jill Kosch O’Donnell has served as the inaugural director of the Clayton Yeutter Institute of International Trade and Finance and a professor of practice at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln since July 1, 2018. She was named the Haggart-Work Director of the institute on July 1, 2022.
Jill leads the Yeutter Institute across its mission areas of education, research, and public engagement, working with faculty in the colleges of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Business and Law. She teaches “International Trade Policy and Politics,” an undergraduate course she developed in 2021. She is also the creator and host of “Trade Matters,” a podcast of the Yeutter Institute.
As an analyst, writer, and strategist, Jill has published, lectured, and developed programming on a variety of international affairs topics. Prior to joining the university, she served as a consultant to the NATO Communications and Information Agency on the implementation of the NATO Industry Cyber Partnership. She has done extensive research and published articles on South Korea’s green growth strategy for The Asia Foundation and the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), including a chapter in the book, Middle Power Korea: Contributions to the Global Agenda, published by CFR. She has also collaborated with a former senior State Department official on a series of writing projects about the future of diplomacy. Jill first brought her experience into the classroom in 2012 when she began teaching political science and U.S. foreign policy at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
Jill began her international policy career in Washington, D.C., serving as a foreign policy assistant to U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel, where her work primarily focused on the Senator’s role on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. She also worked at a global business consulting firm led by former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen.
Jill graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with her B.A. from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. She also holds a M.A. in international relations and international economics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). She is a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and a Fellow at the National Strategic Research Institute.
A native of Columbus, Nebraska, Jill is a proud graduate of Scotus Central Catholic High School and enjoys returning to run in the annual Downtown Runaround whenever possible.