top of page

MEMBERSHIP DUES

About
Members
Programs
Publications
- Past Publications
Awards
Resources
News
Members

Use tab to navigate through the menu items.

2024 - UCR

About the Speakers

Anthony "Tony" Banbury joined the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) as President and Chief Executive Officer on November 1, 2018. Prior to joining IFES, Tony had an extensive career working for the UN and the United States government.

Banbury worked for the UN for 20 years in a variety of roles both at UN headquarters in New York and in the field. From 2009 through 2016, Banbury served as Assistant Secretary-General for Field Support; in this role, he was responsible for providing operational support to more than 30 UN peacekeeping and political missions around the world with a combined annual budget of more than $8 billion and with more than 170,000 deployed personnel. While working at UN headquarters, Banbury was given a number of special assignments by the Secretary-General, including designing and leading the UN’s first-ever emergency health mission in response to the 2014 West Africa Ebola crisis, designing and establishing the Joint Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons-UN Mission to remove chemical weapons from Syria in 2013, leading the effort to stop widespread killings and prevent genocide in the Central African Republic in 2014, and leading the operational response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the worst humanitarian disaster in the western hemisphere in modern history.

Banbury previously served as Asia Regional Director for the UN World Food Programme from 2003 to 2009, where he oversaw operations in 14 countries, including Afghanistan and North Korea, and led the organization’s operational response to the Indian Ocean tsunami and Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar. Banbury started his UN career in 1988 as a Human Rights Officer in Cambodian refugee camps in Thailand and later served in various humanitarian, political affairs, and human rights positions in Asia, the Balkans during the war in the former Yugoslavia, and UN headquarters.

Prior to his most senior roles with the UN, Banbury worked in the United States government as Director and then Senior Director for Democracy, Human Rights, and International Operations at the National Security Council (2000-2003) and Senior Policy Advisor in the Balkans Task Force at the Department of Defense (1998-2000).

Banbury holds a master’s degree in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, a graduate degree in international relations from the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Études Internationales at the University of Geneva, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Tufts University.

Banbury is a member of the Board of Directors of the Centre for Public Impact and received a Distinguished Service Award from the President of the United States for service on 9/11, a Bronze Palm to the Exceptional Civilian Service Award from the Secretary of Defense, an Exceptional Civilian Service Award from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and a Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award from Tufts University.

Ambassador David B. Shear is an Adjunct Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He performed the duties of Principle Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from June 2016 to January 2017. He was the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs from September 2014 to June 2016. Prior to 2014, Mr. Shear served for 32 years in the American Foreign Service, most recently as the United States Ambassador to Vietnam. He has also served in Sapporo, Beijing, Tokyo, and Kuala Lumpur. In Washington, he has served in the Offices of Japanese, Chinese, and Korean Affairs and as the Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs. He was Director of the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs in 2008-2009 and served as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs in 2009-2011. Ambassador Shear was a Rusk Fellow at Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy 1998-99. He is a graduate of Earlham College and SAIS and has attended Waseda University, Taiwan National University, and Nanjing University. Ambassador Shear is the recipient of the State Department’s Superior Honor Award and the Defense Department’s Civilian Meritorious Service Award. He has a first degree rank in kendo, the Japanese art of swordsmanship.

During his 28-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service, Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis worked almost exclusively on Western Hemisphere issues and as a multilateral diplomat at the United Nations. He served as the first Charge d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Havana following the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba. Prior to taking up his Cuba post in August 2014, he was the Ambassador for Special Political Affairs at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.

Previously, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, and as Minister Counselor for Political Affairs and Security Council Coordinator at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. Ambassador DeLaurentis began his State Department career in 1991 as a consular officer in Havana and returned to Cuba as Political Economic Section Chief in 1999-2002. In Washington, he served as the Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, and Director of Inter-American Affairs at the National Security Council. His last assignment in the Foreign Service was at the Harvard Kennedy School as a Senior Diplomatic Fellow with the Belfer Center Future of Diplomacy Project. Subsequently, Ambassador DeLaurentis was appointed Distinguished Resident Fellow in Latin American and Multilateral Diplomacy Studies at the Georgetown University Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, the George S. McGovern Visiting Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, Resident Fellow at the Harvard University David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies’ Cuba Studies Program (ongoing as an Associate), and a Senior Advisor with the Albright Stonebridge Group. He was a member of the Biden-Harris Presidential Transition Team and called back to government service in January 2021 as the Senior Advisor for Security Council Affairs at the U.S. Mission to the UN, a position he held until October 2023. DeLaurentis was called back a second time in January 2024, to serve as a diplomatic advisor on the interagency task force on Haiti and represent the U.S. on the advisory board of the UN Trust Fund in Support of the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) to Haiti.

DeLaurentis is a graduate of the Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service and Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. A recipient of multiple State Department awards, he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Diplomacy. He recently joined the Latin America Program Advisory Board of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the Stimson Center as a Distinguished Fellow.

Pamela L. Spratlen is a mentor, board member and public speaker who served 30 years in the U.S. Department of State. She retired as a Senior Foreign Service Officer in 2019. She briefly returned to State in 2021 to oversee efforts to address the “Havana Syndrome.” Ms. Spratlen’s leadership experience included 10 years in Central Asia, of which she served eight as U.S. Ambassador, first to Kyrgyzstan (2011-14) and then to Uzbekistan (2015-18). She also served as Deputy Chief of Mission (Deputy to the Ambassador) in Kazakhstan (2009-11) and in Washington as the Country Director/acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Central Asia (2006-07). During her service in Central Asia, Ms. Spratlen consistently addressed human rights and economic reform as she worked to improve bilateral diplomatic and security relations with the governments of the region.

Ms. Spratlen’s senior Washington assignments include Senior Advisor in the Office of the Inspector General (2018-19); Director of Western European Affairs (2008-09), Director of Central Asian Affairs and Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary (2006-08); Special Assistant to the Counselor to the Secretary of State (2005-06), Consul General in Vladivostok (2002-04). In her early and mid-career Ms. Spratlen served in Guatemala City, Paris, Moscow, Honolulu, and Washington (1990-2002). She began her career as a VISTA volunteer in California. Before joining State she served for over eight years on the professional staffs of committees of the California Legislature, where she focused higher education.

Ms. Spratlen was born in Columbus, Ohio and grew up on the U.S. West Coast in California and Washington. She received her bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College and holds master’s degrees from the Army War College and the Goldman School of Public Policy at U.C. Berkeley. Ms. Spratlen has received numerous awards. The President of Uzbekistan conferred the country’s highest civilian award on her in 2018 – the Order of Do’stlik (Friendship).

Ms. Spratlen continues to support strong U.S. diplomacy and development as a member of the boards of the American Academy of Diplomacy, the Eurasia Foundation and on the Policy Council of the Una Chapman Cox Foundation. She speaks Russian, French and Spanish. Ms. Spratlen resides in Alexandria, VA.

Before joining the Organization of American States, Ambassador Arnold Chacon served as co-lead for the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP), a U.S. presidential initiative announced at the 2022 Summit of the Americas. Over the course of his career at the State Department, he has represented the United States abroad in nine countries, including as Chief of Mission in Guatemala, and served as Director General of the Foreign Service and Deputy Executive Secretary of the Executive Secretariat. Ambassador Chacon is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Diplomacy.

Ambassador Chacon served as Special Chargé D’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, Canada, in 2021, where he led the implementation of the U.S.-Canada Roadmap for Renewed Partnership. As Director General of the Foreign Service, he reinvigorated professional development and recruitment programs to attract, develop, and retain personnel from underrepresented communities. Ambassador Chacon was granted Guatemala’s highest civilian honor for combating child nutrition, supporting justice and security policies, and promoting economic competitiveness.

Ambassador Chacon studied International Affairs at the University of Colorado. He has received numerous leadership honors, including two Presidential Rank Awards and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Distinguished Civilian Award for his leadership at the National Defense University.

President, American Academy of Diplomacy

Formerly a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Ronald E. Neumann served three times as Ambassador; to Algeria, Bahrain and finally to Afghanistan from July 2005 to April 2007. Before Afghanistan, Mr. Neumann, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, served in Baghdad from February 2004 with the Coalition Provisional Authority and then as Embassy Baghdad’s liaison with the Multinational Command, where he was deeply involved in coordinating the political part of military actions.

Prior to working in Iraq, he was Ambassador in Manama, Bahrain (2001-2004), Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Near East Affairs (1997-2000) with responsibility for North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, and Ambassador to Algeria (1994 to 1997). He was Director of the Office of Northern Gulf Affairs (Iran and Iraq; 1991 to 1994). Earlier in his career, he was Deputy Chief of Mission in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and in Sanaa in Yemen, Principal Officer in Tabriz, Iran and Economic/Commercial Officer in Dakar, Senegal. His previous Washington assignments include service as Jordan Desk officer, Staff Assistant in the Middle East (NEA) Bureau, and Political Officer in the Office of Southern European Affairs.

Ambassador Neumann is the author of a memoir, Three Embassies, Four Wars: a personal memoir (2017) and The Other War: Winning and Losing in Afghanistan (Potomac Press, 2009), a book on his time in Afghanistan. He has returned to Afghanistan repeatedly and is the author of a number of monographs, articles, and editorials focusing mainly on Afghanistan and stabilization. At the Academy he has focused particularly on efforts to maintain adequate State and USAID budgets and staffing and upgrade professional formation to enable these institutions to carry out their responsibilities. Ambassador Neumann is on the Advisory Boards of the non-profit school for Afghan girls, the School of Leadership, Afghanistan (SOLA), Spirit of America, the Middle East Policy Council, and the Friends of the American University of Afghanistan. He is a member of the Combat Infantryman’s Association.

Ambassador Neumann speaks some Arabic and Dari as well as French. He received State Department Superior Honor Awards in 1993 and 1990. He was an Army infantry officer in Viet Nam and holds a Bronze Star, Army Commendation Medal and Combat Infantry Badge. In Baghdad, he was awarded the Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal. In 2018, he received the American Foreign Service Association’s award for Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy. He earned a B.A. in history and an M.A. in political science from the University of California at Riverside and is a graduate of the National War College. He is married to the former M. Elaine Grimm. They have two children.

Ambassador Paula J. Dobriansky is a foreign policy expert and former diplomat specializing in national security affairs. She is a Senior Fellow in the Future of Diplomacy Project at Harvard University’s JFK Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Vice Chair of the National Executive Committee, U.S. Water Partnership.

From 2010 – 2012, Ambassador Dobriansky was Senior Vice President and Global Head of Government and Regulatory Affairs at Thomson Reuters. In this position, she was responsible for designing and implementing a corporate approach for engagement in Washington, D.C. and other key capitals around the globe. During this time, she was also appointed as the Distinguished National Security Chair at the U.S. Naval Academy.

From 2001 to 2009, Ambassador Dobriansky served as Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs. Among her primary accomplishments, she established and led the U.S.-India, U.S.-China, and U.S.- Brazil Global Issues Fora — which advanced crucial work and international cooperation on environment, energy, health, development, and humanitarian issues. Additionally, she was head of delegation and lead negotiator on U.S. climate change policy.

In February 2007, as the President’s Special Envoy to Northern Ireland, Ambassador Dobriansky received the Secretary of State’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal, for her contribution to the historic devolution of power in Belfast. During her more than 25 years in national security affairs, Ambassador Dobriansky has held many Senate-confirmed and senior level positions in the U.S. Government including Associate Director for Policy and Programs at the United States Information Agency, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, Deputy Head of the U.S. Delegation to the 1990 Copenhagen Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), Advisor to the U.S. Delegation to the 1985 U.N. Decade for Women Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, and Director of European and Soviet Affairs at the National Security Council, the White House.

From 1997- 2001, Ambassador Dobriansky served as Senior Vice President and Director of the Washington Office of the Council on Foreign Relations and was the first George F. Kennan Senior Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies. During this time, she also served on the Presidentially-appointed U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy.

A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Diplomacy, Ambassador Dobriansky serves on various boards, including the Smith-Richardson Foundation, IDS International, Freedom House and the Atlantic Council. She is also a Trustee of the Trilateral Commission, on the Board of Visitors of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and Chair of the Bush Center’s Women’s Initiative Policy Advisory Council. Previous boards include the Western NIS Enterprise Fund, National Endowment for Democracy (Vice Chair), George Mason University Board of Visitors and the World Affairs Councils of America as Chairman of the National Board.

She received a B.S.F.S. summa cum laude in International Politics from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Soviet political/military affairs from Harvard University. She is a Fulbright-Hays scholar, Ford and Rotary Foundation Fellow, a member of Phi Beta Kappa and a recipient of various honors such as the Foreign Policy Association Medal for her service to country and leadership of the World Affairs Councils of America and the International Republican Institute’s Women’s Democracy Network Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Award (2008). She has received other high-level international recognition including the Commander Cross of the Order of Merit of Poland, Poland’s Highest Medal of Merit, Grand Cross of Commander of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas, National Order “Star of Romania”, Hungary’s Commander’s Cross Order of Merit and Ukraine’s Order of Merit. She has also received three Honorary Doctorates of Humane Letters, one Honorary Doctorate of Laws and one Honorary Doctorate of International Affairs.

Tibor Nagy performed the duties of the Undersecretary of State for Management from January to April 2025, after having served as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 2018-2021. As Assistant Secretary, in addition to leading the US Government’s efforts to deal with Africa’s myriad systemic challenges, Ambassador Nagy prioritized dramatically increasing trade and investment between the US and Africa and implementing “deal teams” in every US Embassy to support this effort. He also focused on persuading African governments to create the types of business and governance environments which would attract outside investment to create jobs for Africa’s emerging Youth Tsunami.

From 2003 to 2018 Ambassador Nagy was Vice Provost for International Affairs at Texas Tech University where his efforts resulted in large increases in international students, study abroad programs, and international partnerships. He also lectured nationally on Africa, foreign policy, international development, and US diplomacy – and advised two Presidential campaigns, serving as Gov. Romney’s Africa policy group co-chair in 2012 and on Presidential candidate Obama’s Africa group in 2008.

He was the US Ambassador to Ethiopia from 1999-2002, a period which included the Ethio-Eritrean War and a robust anti-terrorism campaign. Previously he was Ambassador to Guinea after serving as Deputy Ambassador in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Togo. He also had assignments in Zambia, the Seychelles, Washington DC, and an earlier tour in Ethiopia. Ambassador Nagy arrived in the US as a political refugee from Hungary and received his B.A. from Texas Tech University and M.S.A. from George Washington University. His US State Department awards include commendations for helping prevent famine in Ethiopia; supporting the evacuation of Americans from Sierra Leone during combat; supporting efforts to end the Ethio-Eritrean War, and managing the US Embassy in Lagos, Nigeria during political and economic crises. He was selected as runner-up for “Deputy Chief of Mission of the Year” in 1995 and knighted by the President of Guinea in 1999. Ambassador Nagy contributes periodic op-ed pieces and co-authored the nonfiction winner of the 2014 Paris Book Festival on managing in difficult international environments, “Kiss Your Latte Goodbye.”

Aaron Williams is Senior Advisor—Emeritus, International Development & Government Relations, at RTI International. Mr. Williams served as Peace Corps director from 2009 to 2012, and as executive vice president of RTI International’s International Development Group from 2012 to 2018, and as vice president of international business development for RTI from 2003 to 2009. In 2015, he was appointed by President Obama as the U.S. Alternative Representative to the executive board of UNICEF. He has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in public service and the private sector, which began when he served for three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic.

Before his previous tenure at RTI, Williams served as a senior official at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where he reached the rank of career minister in the Senior Foreign Service. His awards include the USAID Distinguished Career Service Award in 1998 and the Presidential Award for Distinguished Service in 1988 and 1992.

He has extensive experience in the strategic design and management of assistance programs in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Ron Brown Scholar Program, ChildFund International, and George Washington University – Elliott School of International Affairs’ Advisory Board. He has previously served on the boards of CARE, the National Peace Corps Association, and the Institute for Sustainable Communities. He is an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina – Gillings School of Global Public Health.

He received his MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and obtained a BS in Geography from Chicago State University.

Catherine A. Novelli is a Senior Advisor at Shearwater Global, a strategic consulting firm. She also serves as President of Listening for America, a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to forging a new vision of U.S. international trade engagement. She is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, where she served as a Centennial Fellow (2018-2019). She previously served as Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment (2014-2017) where she promoted economic reform and open markets for U.S. products and services. As Under Secretary, Ambassador Novelli spearheaded the first-of- its-kind Our Ocean movement, which, during her tenure, resulted in $10 billion for Ocean conservation and has become a continuing global effort. She also launched the Global Connect Initiative, an innovative partnership with governments, multilateral development banks and the private sector to connect 1.5 billion people to the Internet.

Novelli spent seven years as Vice President, Worldwide Government Affairs at Apple Inc where she headed a multinational international team responsible for Apple’s government relations and public policy. Prior to her position at Apple, she was a partner in the law firm of Mayer Brown International. She had a long career at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, rising to Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Europe & the Mediterranean, where she coordinated U.S. trade and investment policy for Europe, Russia, Central Asia, the Middle East and Northern Africa. She took a leading role in many of the most important U.S. trade negotiations in those regions, including free trade agreements with Jordan, Morocco and Bahrain, and Oman. As the Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia, she negotiated most of the bilateral trade and investment agreements that underpin our economic relationship in that region.

Novelli currently serves on the Board of the National Wildlife Federation and the Advisory Board of the Pristine Seas Initiative of the National Geographic Society. She was also named an Ocean Elder.

Novelli has received numerous honors and awards, including the State Department Distinguished Service Award and the International Trade Woman of the Year Award. She is a graduate of Tufts University, holds a law degree from the University of Michigan and a Master of Laws from University of London.

Thomas Countryman was chosen in October 2017 to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Arms Control Association. The ACA is a nonpartisan NGO, committed to analysis of key national security issues and to advising the executive branch, Congress and the public on choices that promote global security and reduce the risk that weapons of mass destruction will be used.

He retired from the Senior Foreign Service in January 2017 after 35 years of service. At that time, he served simultaneously as acting Undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security, and as Assistant Secretary for International Security and Nonproliferation, a position he held since September 2011. The ISN Bureau leads the US effort to prevent the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, their related materials, and their delivery systems.

Previously he served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs (2009-10), and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for European Affairs (2010-11), with responsibility for the Balkans region.

His first assignments were at the US Embassy in Belgrade (1983-85), and in Washington as the desk officer for Yugoslavia (1986) and for Bulgaria/Albania (1987-88). After an assignment to Cairo, he was responsible for advising Ambassador Albright on Middle East affairs at the US Mission to the United Nations (1994-97), and served as liaison with the UN Special Commission investigating Iraq’s weapons programs. Mr. Countryman served as Director for Near East affairs on the National Security Council staff (1997-98), with responsibility for the region from Morocco to Syria, and was the White House representative on Ambassador Dennis Ross’ peace process team. He attended the Senior Seminar course in 1998-1999.

He was Director of the Office of South Central European Affairs (1999-2001), and Minister-Counselor for Political Affairs at the US Embassy in Rome (2001-05). He served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Athens (2005-08), including five months as Charge d’Affaires in 2007. In 2008-2009, he was Foreign Policy Advisor to the Commandant of the US Marine Corps, General James Conway.

He received Superior Honor Awards for his work in EUR, Rome, Athens, and New York. In 2007, he received the Presidential Meritorious Service award.

Mr. Countryman graduated from Washington University in St. Louis (summa cum laude) with a degree in economics and political science, and studied at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. His foreign languages are Serbo-Croatian, Arabic, German, Italian and Greek.

He is a native of Tacoma, Washington. He and his wife Dubravka have two brilliant sons.

Molly Williamson speaks extensively on energy, economic and demographic factors affecting foreign policy formulation, US-Middle East relations, especially regional unrest, the Israel-Palestine conflict, Iran and nuclear challenges, and the interagency process.

Williamson is a retired Foreign Service Officer, having served six presidents, achieving the rank of Career Minister. She is a scholar with the Middle East Institute and the National Council on US-Arab Relations, a consultant, and frequent guest lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, the Defense Institute of Security Cooperation, and the National Joint Staff College. She is also a member of Georgetown University’s MSFS oral boards, and a Director on both corporate and non-profit Boards. Williamson has lectured at numerous World Affairs and Business groups across the country, numerous universities, several cruise ships, as well as briefings to the U.S. Congress.

Williamson has had a unique combination of policy positions in four Cabinet departments in the U.S. government as well as numerous diplomatic assignments in and about the Middle East.

Williamson was the Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the Secretary of Energy with global responsibilities at the nexus of foreign policy and energy policy.

When Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce, Williamson was responsible for the Middle East, South Asia, Oceania and Africa, advancing trade relations with 86 countries with a trade portfolio valued at over $120 billion/year.

Williamson was Principal Deputy, then Acting Assistant Secretary of State, International Organizations Bureau, responsible for the policy and programs affecting UN political and Security Council matters, peacekeeping and humanitarian operations.

As Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Williamson was responsible for the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. She was engaged in operational defense structure bottom-up reviews, the policy challenges of Iraqi provocations, crises in Rwanda and Somalia, and nuclear tests in South Asia.

She has had numerous diplomatic postings in the Middle East, including heading up our diplomatic mission in Jerusalem during the Madrid Peace Process, which culminated in the Oslo Accords.

She has been trained in both Hebrew and Arabic.

Williamson, a native of California, has been awarded 2 Presidential Meritorious Service Awards, the Secretary of Energy’s Exceptional Service Award, Secretary of Commerce Performance Award, the Secretary of Defense’ Service Award, and 14 awards from the Department of State.

Jimmy Kolker retired Jan 20, 2017 as Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In this role, Ambassador Kolker was the Department’s chief health diplomat, representing the United States at World Health Organization meetings and as alternate Board Member of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Amb. Kolker had a 30 year diplomatic career with the U.S. Department of State where he served as the U.S. Ambassador to Uganda (2002-2005) and to Burkina Faso (1999-2002). From 2005-2007, he was Deputy Global AIDS Coordinator in the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, leading implementation of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Amb. Kolker was Deputy Chief of Mission at U.S. embassies in Denmark and Botswana and won awards for political reporting at earlier posts in the UK, Sweden, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.

From 2007-2011, Amb. Kolker was Chief of the AIDS Section at UNICEF’s New York headquarters. He led UNICEF’s work on HIV and AIDS, focusing on mother-to-child-transmission of HIV, pediatric treatment, prevention among adolescents and young people, and protection for children and families affected by AIDS.

Since retiring, Amb. Kolker joined the boards of the ABInBev Foundation, the Firelight Foundation and Building Tomorrow. He is a visiting scholar at American Association for the Advancement of Science, at Georgetown U’s Center for Global Health and Security and at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is an advisor to Catholic Relief Services’ Changing the Way We Care project and to Texas Children’s Hospital’s Global HOPE pediatric cancer initiative

Amb. Kolker holds a Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School and a B.A. magna cum laude from Carleton College in Minnesota. He was a Thomas J. Watson Foundation Fellow (1970-1971). He speaks French, Swedish, and Portuguese.

Dr. M. Graeme Bannerman is a Scholar at the Middle East Institute, as well as Board Chair Emeritus of Hands Along the Nile and a Member of the Board of Partnership for a Secure America and on the Advisory Board of the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo. Dr. Bannerman is also the founder of Bannerman & Associates, Inc., an international consulting firm.

Dr. Bannerman is a former Staff Director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as well as a former Middle East/South Asian analyst on the US State Department Policy Planning Staff. Dr. Bannerman previously taught at several universities, including Georgetown University, George Washington University, and the American University in Beirut. He has served as an international observer of elections in Georgia, the Philippines, Haiti, Pakistan, West Bank/Gaza, Mongolia, Yemen, and Lebanon.

1101 17th Street, NW Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036

Telephone: 202-331-3721

academy@academyofdiplomacy.org

The American Academy of Diplomacy (AAD) is an independent, non-profit association of former senior US ambassadors and high-level government officials whose mission is to strengthen American diplomacy. AAD represents a unique wealth of talent and experience in the practice of American foreign policy, with over 370 members.

bottom of page