Katherine "Kaki" Elgin, daughter of Dean and Carina Elgin of The Plains, will be pursuing a PhD in Security Studies this fall at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School.

Elgin, 24, attended the Parish House Pre School in Middleburg under Bryan Wright prior to spending many years with the Fauquier County Public School system. After a year at Fauquier High School, Elgin chose to follow her mother's footsteps and finished her high school education at Phillips Academy in Andover, MA.

Elgin graduated cum laude from Princeton University in 2013 with a degree in politics. As an undergraduate, Elgin played an active role on campus. She was a fellow with the Center for International Security Studies, a role in which she organized and participated in lectures on U.S. defense and foreign policy, crisis simulations, and military staff rides to Gettysburg and Normandy, France. She also served as photography editor for The Daily Princetonian, Princeton's only student-run daily newspaper; Co-President of the Princeton University Orchestra (in which she played the French horn); and a residential advisor in undergraduate dorms. Her culminating thesis, a substantial independent research paper, examined the effects of the U.S. military presence in Central Asia post-9/11 on U.S. relations with China and Russia in the region.

After graduating from Princeton University, Elgin spent the past two years conducting foreign policy research at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., where she worked as the research assistant to Bruce Jones, interim vice president and director of the Foreign Policy Program at the Brookings Institution. With Jones, Elgin conducted research on a number of topics related to U.S. foreign policy, including grand strategy, emerging powers, and transnational threats.

As part of her PhD program, Elgin will be studying, among other things, military strategy, foreign policy, and civil-military relations at Princeton University's well-renowned school for public policy and international relations. Elgin is one of two students who will be commencing the PhD program in security studies this fall.

Elgin speaks French, Russian, and Swedish, and has traveled extensively. Her most recent trip brought her to the United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan.

Kaki has maintained strong roots to the Middleburg area. She returns regularly, photographing hunt meets and other sporting events and remaining active in the community. Her photography can be found at www.KatherineElginPhotography.com. She also plays tennis.

At the conclusion of her PhD program, Elgin hopes to return to Washington, D.C. and influence U.S. defense and foreign policy decision-making.