Miemie Winn Byrd

Dr. Miemie Winn Byrd joined the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in 2007. Dr. Byrd researches, teaches, and publishes in the areas of U.S.-Myanmar (Burma) relations; security dynamics in Southeast Asia; economics and security linkages; rising inequality and its implication on security; the roles of private-sector, women, and education in socioeconomic development; civil-military operations; leadership; organizational development & innovation; women peace & security; and transformational learning & adult education.

Dr. Byrd retired from the U.S. Army after 28 years of distinguished service. Highlights of her military career include serving as the Deputy Economic Advisor, Civil-Military Operations Plans Officer, and Interagency Operations Officer at U.S. Pacific Command in support of Operations Enduring Freedom. She had also served as a linguist and cultural advisor to the U.S. delegations attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum, POW/MIA recovery negotiations in Myanmar (Burma), and Operation Caring Response to Cyclone Nargis, and US-Myanmar (Burma) Human Rights Dialogues.

Her 16 years of civilian private-sector professional experience included a wide range of auditing, accounting, and financial management positions with multinational corporations such as Law & Economics Consulting Group (LECG), Gillette, GTC (General Telephone and Electronics) and Ernst & Young and also with a Silicon Valley start-up firm, Wyzdom.com. Dr. Byrd spearheaded the effort to establish and launch Suu Foundation (501c3 US non-profit entity) at the request of the Noble Peace Laureate, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, in 2013. Dr. Byrd is currently serving on the Board of Governors of the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California; as an Adjunct Fellow at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii; on the Selection Committee for USABCI Myanmar Scholarship Fund under the US-ASEAN Business Council Institute based in Washington, D.C.; and on a Regional Advisory Committee for Knowledge for Democracy Myanmar Initiative of the Asia Regional Office, International Development Research Centre (IDRC) based in New Delhi, India; and Thanakha International Gender Network based in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Dr. Byrd’s selected publications include: “Myanmar’s Unrest: Implications of the Military Coup on Strategic Competition in the Indo-Pacific” in Indo-Pacific Defense Forum; “Women on the Front Lines in Myanmar’s Fight for Democracy” in Air University’s Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs; “Has Myanmar Become China’s Back Door to the Indian Ocean?” Chapter in Hindsight, Insight, Foresight; “Worlds Apart: Why North Korea Won’t Follow Myanmar’s Path to Reform” in Global Asia; “Why the U.S. Should Gender its Counterterrorism Strategy” in The Military Review Journal; “Combating Terrorism: A Socio-Economic Strategy” and “Combating Terrorism with Socioeconomics: Leveraging the Private Sector” in Joint Force Quarterly, a professional military and security journal published for the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff by National Defense University. She also served as the editor for USPACOM’s Asia-Pacific Economic Update publications 2003-2007.

Dr. Byrd received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Accounting from Claremont McKenna College and holds a Master of Business Administration with emphasis in Asia-Pacific Economics and Business from University of Hawaii. She earned her Doctorate in Education Leadership from the University of Southern California.