Claudia Bergheger

Claudia Bergheger serves as the Associate Director of Operations at Vanderbilt’s Institute of National Security. In this role, Bergheger leads the institute’s day-to-day operations, including staff development, budget and resource management, and the execution of events and programs. She works closely with the Institute’s founding and executive director and Institute advisors to establish initiatives across all four pillars of the institute.

Prior to assuming her current position, Bergheger served as a Project Manager for Executive Projects in the Office of the Chancellor at Vanderbilt University. She led various initiatives and events aimed at serving both the Vanderbilt community and external partners. Notably, she successfully established Vanderbilt University as an official Department of Defense SkillBridge partner, facilitating the employment of transitioning Service Members into Higher Education.

Before her work at Vanderbilt, Bergheger worked for a Tennessee United States Senator as a Constituent Services Representative. In this capacity, she assisted thousands of Tennesseans with federal inquiries related to Social Security, Veteran Affairs, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, and other federal agencies.

Bergheger holds a Master of Education in Leadership and Organizational Performance from Vanderbilt University and a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Austin Peay State University. She is an alum of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute’s Leadership and the American Presidency program, as well as a scholar of the George W. Bush Institute’s Stand-to Veteran Leadership program.