[1][2][3] Shambaugh served in the Department of State, and on the White House National Security staff during the presidency of Jimmy Carter.

Shambaugh earned his BA cum laude in East Asian Studies in 1977 from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University—where he now serves on the faculty.

[6][7] Shambaugh began his professional career as Program Associate and Acting Director of the Asia Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC (1986-87), before being appointed as Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, and Reader in Chinese Politics at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), where he was on the faculty from 1987-1996.

[8] Regarded as an international authority on China, Shambaugh is a frequent media commentator and has acted as an advisor to the United States Government and several private foundations and corporations.

[13] He has been a visiting professor or scholar in Australia, Austria, Brazil, China, Denmark, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan.