Dr. Luis Bitencourt is a Professor of International Security. Prior to rejoining the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies in August 2020, he was a consultant professor for the Global Defense Reform Program-sponsored Defense Education Cooperation Program between the Perry Center and Brazil’s Escola Superior de Guerra. He was also a Visiting Professor at the Brazilian Navy War College and a Visiting Professor, for over 25 years, at Georgetown University. From June 2005 to November 2017, he was a Professor, Dean of Academic Affairs, and Deputy Director at the Perry Center. Prior to joining the Perry Center, Dr. Bitencourt was respectively a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and the Director of the Brazil Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Dr. Bitencourt has dedicated his entire professional life to adult education in both the public and the private sectors. While working for the Brazilian federal government, he performed several functions related to research and training in strategic planning, international security, public administration, and Congressional intelligence oversight. At the Catholic University of Brasilia, Dr. Bitencourt was a professor and dean of the Social Sciences College for over a decade. He also worked for the United Nations as a Regional Coordinator in East Timor, as a member of the Electoral Team of Experts in Tajikistan, and as a rapporteur for the "Responsibility to Protect" initiative with the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty.

Dr. Bitencourt holds a doctorate degree and an MA in World Politics from the Catholic University of America and an MA in Political Science from the Universidade de Brasília. His bachelor’s degree is in mathematics. Besides hemispheric security, his research interests include strategic planning, defense governance, international trade, and business, marketing, innovation, and leadership in times of globalization