Outgoing Sen. Richard G. Lugar, R-Ind., will join The German Marshall Fund of the United States as a senior trans-Atlantic fellow when his term expires early next year.

The German Marshall Fund is a “non-partisan, non-profit organization” that was created “through a gift from Germany as a permanent memorial to Marshall Plan assistance,” according to the group’s website. Its mission is to strengthen “translatlantic cooperation on regional, national and global challenges and opportunities in the spirit of the Marshall Plan.”

“It is an honor to welcome Senator Lugar to GMF,” the group’s president, Craig Kennedy, said in a written statement. “He is a distinguished lawmaker whose service in the United States Senate is greatly admired around the globe. His expertise on international affairs and national security will be a tremendous asset to GMF’s work.”

Lugar, the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, lost his bid for re-election last spring when he was defeated in the GOP primary by Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock, who eventually lost the general election to Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly.