President Bush has picked an assistant professor of public policy at the Kennedy School of Government as his new special assistant and senior director for African Affairs at the National Security Council.

Jendayi E. Frazer is the second professor in two weeks to take leave from the University to work for the new administration. She was appointed by National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice in a decision announced Thursday.

"It's is a great opportunity and an honor. National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell are both committed to Africa and the President wants to make sure we have an effective policy toward the continent," Frazer said in a press release.

Government service is not new to Frazer. She previously served as director of African Affairs at the National Security Council. She also assisted the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Department of Defense as a political-military planner.

Besides serving in the government, Frazer has consulted extensively on African policy. She consulted with the United Nations Development Program on civil-military relations in Mali.

In addition, she was a visiting fellow at the Center for International Security and Arms Control at Stanford University and served as a research associate at the Institute for Development Studies at the University of Nairobi, Kenya.

Frazer is the editor of Africa Today. Her current research area is regional security cooperation and restructuring civil-military relations following shifts in political power.

She has published extensively in the area of African military affairs and security policy.