Jim Barnhart

During his two years in Lebanon, Dr. Barnhart restructured and led a short-staffed mission to optimize the impact of USAID assistance and implement U.S. Government assistance reform. Through his interagency efforts, he planned and attuned USAID activities to embrace the critical and continually fluctuating political events within Lebanon and the region.  Prior to Lebanon, Barnhart served as the associate mission director for Economic Growth and Education Office in Pakistan during a period that witnessed a doubling of the foreign assistance budget. Additionally, he oversaw implementation of a new business model built upon Pakistani ownership of U.S. Government assistance. 

Preceding his tour in Pakistan, Barnhart guided the Economic Growth, Education, Humanitarian Assistance, and Anti-Corruption Offices in Zambia as the supervisory general development officer.  A professional highlight of his four years in Lusaka included the design, implementation, and completion of Zambia’s MCA Threshold Program that directly led to the country becoming compact-eligible in 2009. Barnhart also spent four years with USAID/Jordan, managing the Office of Economic Opportunity. 

Prior to joining USAID, Barnhart worked in Egypt and the West Bank/Gaza Strip, supporting programs for educational and economic development.  He has coordinated activities for an American-Armenian NGO that operated in Armenia, Turkey, and Jerusalem.  He traveled throughout the region, including Syria and Oman, and he studied Arabic in Damascus and at Bir Zeit University outside of Ramallah.  

Barnhart has a Ph.D. in Economics from Georgia State University.  He studied economic development in the Middle East as part of his Masters Degree from the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS).