Victoria Nuland is the Shelby Cullom Davis Professor in the Practice of International Diplomacy at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, a Senior Advisor in the Public Policy practice at Covington and Burling, LLC, and a board member of the National Endowment for Democracy. 

Toria is a retired Career Ambassador in the U.S. diplomatic service, with 35 years of experience in foreign policy and international strategy, negotiation, media and management at the Department of State and the White House. She served six U.S. Presidents and 10 Secretaries of State of both political parties. From April 2021 until March 2024, Toria she served as Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs where she oversaw and managed the work of all six regional bureaus at the Department of State and the counter-terrorism bureau. From July 2023 until February 2024, she served concurrently as Acting Deputy Secretary of State.

From 2019 to 2021, she was a Senior Advisor at the Albright Stonebridge Group, an international commercial diplomacy firm. She was also professor of practice at Yale University and a fellow at the Brookings Institution.

At the State Department, Toria served as Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs from 2013 to 2017 under President Barack Obama and Secretary John Kerry. She was State Department Spokesperson during Secretary Hillary Clinton’s tenure from 2011-2013, and Special Envoy and Chief Negotiator on the Treaty on Conventional Arms Control in Europe from 2010-2011.  During George W. Bush’s presidency, Toria served as U.S. Ambassador and Permanent Representative to NATO from 2005-2008. Prior to this appointment, she was Deputy National Security Advisor to the Vice President from 2003-2005.

Toria joined the State Department's Foreign Service in 1984 after a year as a legislative assistant on Capitol Hill. In addition to two tours at NATO in Brussels, she served overseas in Moscow, Russia, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and Guangzhou China, and also had many assignments in Washington. She has a BA in history and international relations from Brown University (’83).