Dr. Gary Sick is a leading expert on Iran and the Persian Gulf. He is currently an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University’s Middle East Institute. Dr. Sick has served on the National Security Council under Presidents Ford, Carter, and Reagan and was the principal White House aide for Iran during the Iranian Revolution and the hostage crisis.

Dr. Sick has also served as the deputy director for international affairs at the Ford Foundation, member emeritus of the board for Human Rights Watch and founding chair of its advisory committee on the Middle East and North Africa; and is the executive director of Gulf/2000, an international online research project on political, economic and security developments in the Persian Gulf.

Dr. Sick was voted one of the top five teachers in 2009 at the School of International and Public Affairs. He is the author of All Fall Down: America's Tragic Encounter With Iran and October Surprise: America's Hostages in Iran and the Election of Ronald Reagan.

Dr. Sick received his BA from the University of Kansas, a Master of Science from George Washington University and a PhD from Columbia University.