The China Studies Center Team
David M. Finkelstein, Director
Dr. Finkelstein received his Ph.D. in Chinese history from Princeton University and studied Mandarin at Nankai University in Tianjin, China. A long time student of Chinese and Asian affairs, he is widely published. His 1993 historical monograph, From Abandonment to Salvation: Washington's Taiwan Dilemma, 1949-50 (GMU Press), was hailed in Presidential Studies Quarterly as "blazing a new trail" and as taking "an important place in the literature of U.S.-China relations in the mid-20th Century." He is co-editor of China's Leadership in the 21st Century: The Rise of the Fourth Generation (M.E. Sharpe, 2002), Chinese Warfighting: The PLA Experience Since 1949 (M.E. Sharpe, 2003), and Civil-Military Relations in Today's China: Swimming in a New Sea (M.E. Sharpe, 2007). A retired U.S. Army officer, Dr. Finkelstein is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, the U.S. Army Command & General Staff College, and the Army War College. He has held significant China-related positions at the Pentagon as an advisor to the Secretary of Defense and Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), and has served on the faculty at West Point, where he taught Chinese history.
Kristen Gunness, Deputy Director
Ms. Gunness is a graduate of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies, and has studied Mandarin at Beijing Capital Normal University and the Harbin Institute of Technology. In addition to her years of study on the mainland, Ms. Gunness also worked as a business consultant for a well-established American firm based in Shanghai, where she specialized in providing market growth strategies for multinational companies in Asia. In that capacity she spent several years working in Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. Upon returning to the United States, she worked as an Asia analyst for the Intellibridge Corporation, and served as the China Country Manager for the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. She has written extensively on Chinese security, foreign, and economic affairs, and is the co-editor of Civil-Military Relations in Today's China: Swimming in a New Sea (M.E. Sharpe, 2007). She holds an M.A. in security studies from Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.
Sherwood (Woody) D. Goldberg, Esq.,
Senior Advisor, Asian Affairs
Mr. Goldberg is a graduate of Dickinson College, holds an M.A. in international relations from the University of Pennsylvania, and holds a J.D. from the Temple University School of Law. His lifelong experience in Asia encompasses diplomatic, commercial, cultural, military, academic, and legal endeavors. For more than twenty-six years, Mr. Goldberg served in both the public and private sectors as Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to General Alexander Haig, the 59th U.S. Secretary of State. As the first Managing Director of Worldwide Associates, Inc., Mr. Goldberg focused upon advancing U.S. corporate interests around the world. Throughout his many travels to China since 1981, he has regularly met with a host of China's national, provincial, and military leaders. Presently, Mr. Goldberg serves as Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army, as Trustee of Dickinson College, as President of SDG International, an advisory firm, and as Director of several corporations.
