Dan Rice is President of American University Kyiv and Co-Founder and Co-President of Thayer Leadership. A West Point graduate, decorated combat veteran of two wars, and award-winning author and educator, he has spent the last four years working in wartime Ukraine.
Thayer Leadership
Dan co-founded Thayer Leadership in 2010 to bring the leadership principles of West Point and the U.S. Army to organizations around the world. Under his leadership, the firm has been named to Training Industry’s Top 20 Leadership Training Companies list, developing values-driven leaders capable of operating in volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environments. He is also the architect of the Thayer Hotel Room Dedication Program, and he created and designed the one-ton granite markers at the West Point Golf Course honoring the eighteen major wars fought by the United States.
Ukraine
In May 2022, Dan traveled to Ukraine alone and stayed. He served as Special Advisor to Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, then Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine — an unpaid, volunteer role he has held at no cost to either government — and as the sole American military liaison in Kyiv at a time when no U.S. forces remained in the country. From that position he pressed Washington for the capabilities Ukrainian commanders said they needed most, becoming the leading advocate for the transfer of cluster munitions and Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS). Both were ultimately approved, and both materially strengthened Ukraine’s ability to defend itself. The United States Field Artillery Association inducted Dan into the Honorable Order of Saint Barbara in recognition of that advocacy.
The work was not done from a desk in Kyiv. Across the war he moved repeatedly into active combat zones with Ukrainian units, at considerable personal risk, to assess conditions firsthand and report them accurately to American decision-makers.
In 2026, the U.S. Army awarded Dan the Department of the Army Civilian Award for Humanitarian Service, nominated and approved by Gen. Christopher “CD” Donahue, then Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe and Africa. He is the only American civilian the U.S. military has recognized for courage during the war in Ukraine. The citation reads:
“For extraordinary courage and selfless actions in support of military operations in Ukraine from March 2022 to March 2023. Mr. Rice repeatedly entered active combat zones, accompanying Ukrainian forces under fire, while conducting critical battlefield assessments. His direct actions and personal courage in hazardous combat conditions materially strengthened Ukrainian defense capabilities and advanced United States strategic objectives. Mr. Rice’s valor and selfless service reflect great credit upon himself, United States Army Europe and Africa, and the United States Army.”
Maj. Gen. Brian Mennes, then Deputy Commanding General of XVIII Airborne Corps, put it more directly: “Dan’s selfless actions significantly contributed to the Ukrainian defense capacity, which has thus far defeated a numerically superior military force. Without question, Dan has indirectly saved thousands of Ukrainian soldiers’ and civilians’ lives.”
Dan has addressed the students of the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks four consecutive years. Dr. John Nagl, Professor of Warfighting Studies there, has said: “If Ukraine survives as an independent country, Dan Rice will be a big part of the reason why.”
American University Kyiv
Dan was appointed President of American University Kyiv in March 2023 and has led the institution through wartime, focusing on education, resilience, global security, and leadership. AUK is Ukraine’s first American-style university, powered by Arizona State University. It was founded in February 2022 — three weeks before the full-scale invasion — and now operates campuses in Kyiv and Dnipro offering both undergraduate and graduate programs. Under Dan’s leadership the university has grown to approximately 1,000 students and continues to expand. In 2026 it graduated its first bachelor’s class: a university founded in war, conferring its first degrees in war.
Although his contract provides for a market-rate salary, Dan has drawn no compensation from AUK. He has instead invested his own funds in the university, directing available resources toward its wartime educational mission.
In 2023, the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education awarded Dan the Helen C. Bailey Award, which recognizes an outstanding graduate whose accomplishments have brought recognition and status to Penn GSE and to the University of Pennsylvania.
Military service and earlier career
Dan is an Airborne-Ranger qualified infantry officer and a decorated U.S. Army veteran cited for courage on the battlefield in both Iraq and Ukraine. He received the Purple Heart for wounds sustained in Iraq in June 2005. Following his military service, he held executive positions across the medical device, investment management, private equity, and renewable energy sectors.