Lawrence Wilkerson is the Pamela C. Harriman Visiting Professor of Government at the College of William Mary, as well as Professorial Lecturer in the Honors Program at the George Washington University.

His last positions in government were as Secretary of State Colin Powell's Chief of Staff (2002-05), Associate Director of the State Department's Policy Planning staff under the directorship of Ambassador Richard N. Haass, and member of that staff responsible for East Asia and the Pacific, political-military and legislative affairs(2001-02).

Before serving at the State Department, Wilkerson served 31 years in the U.S. Army, including as Deputy Executive Officer to General Colin L. Powell when he was Commander, U.S. Army Forces Command (1989), Special Assistant to General Powell when he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989-93), and as Director and Deputy Director of the U.S. Marine Corps War College at Quantico, Virginia (1993-97).

Wilkerson retired from active service in 1997 and then worked as an advisor to General Powell.