nonprofit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
,
non-partisan
Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party.
While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers sp ...
, elected organization whose active membership is limited to men and women who have held positions of high responsibility in crafting and implementing American foreign policy. They have served the United States as chiefs of mission in major embassies abroad, and/or equivalent high-level foreign policy positions in Washington.
Founded in 1983, the Academy focuses the expertise of its members on the pursuit of excellence in the practice of American diplomacy.
In its early years, the Academy provided the
U.S. Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
as
ambassador
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...
s, but today it only does so in exceptional circumstances, such as if the Board of Directors feels strongly about a nominee's lack of qualifications to be ambassador.
The academy is financially supported by its members, and by grants from foundations and corporate contributors.
Alonzo Fulgham Alonzo Fulgham is an international development strategist and business executive. He served as the former Acting Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Early life and education
Alonzo grew up in the Dor ...
Nicholas A. Veliotes
Nicholas Alexander Veliotes (born October 28, 1928) is a former United States Foreign Service Officer and diplomat. He served as United States Ambassador to Jordan (1978–81) and Egypt (1984–86). He is a member of the American Academy of Dip ...
* Secretary: Molly Williamson
* Board of Directors:
Frank Almaguer
Frank Almaguer (born 1945) is an American retired diplomat and career Foreign Service Officer. He has served in numerous positions with the Peace Corps, the United States Agency for International Development, the U.S. Department of State and the ...
,
Liliana Ayalde
Liliana Ayalde (born March 1956) is the former United States Ambassador to Brazil and was previously the Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for the United States State Department with responsibility for the Offices of Caribbean Affairs, Central Am ...
Johnnie Carson
Johnnie Carson (born April 7, 1943) is a diplomat from the United States who has served as United States Ambassador to several African nations. In 2009 he was nominated to become U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs by Presid ...
Harry Geisel
Harry Christian Geisel (July 10, 1888 – February 19, 1966) was a Major League Baseball umpire who worked in the American League for 18 years from 1925 to 1942. Geisel umpired in three World Series (1930, 1934, and 1936) and in two All-Star Gam ...
Laura Kennedy
Bush Tetras are an American post-punk band from New York City, formed in 1979. They are best known for the 1980 song "Too Many Creeps", which exemplified the band's sound of "jagged rhythms, slicing guitars, and sniping vocals".Patrick Kennedy,
Deborah McCarthy
Deborah A. McCarthy is an American diplomat and a former Ambassador of the United States of America to Lithuania.
Early life and education
McCarthy spent much of her youth in France and Argentina, where her father served in U.S. missions. McCart ...
,
George Moose
George Edward Moose (born June 23, 1944) is an American diplomat who served as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Ambassador to the UN agencies in Geneva, and as Ambassador to the Republics of Benin and Senegal. He is primarily kn ...
,
Tibor P. Nagy
Tibor Peter Nagy Jr. (born April 29, 1949) is a former United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, and a former United States, American United States Foreign Service, foreign service officer who served as the American ambassad ...
,
John Negroponte
John Dimitri Negroponte (; born July 21, 1939) is an American diplomat. He is currently a James R. Schlesinger Distinguished Professor at the Miller Center for Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. He is a former J.B. and Maurice C. Sh ...
Charles Rivkin
Charles Hammerman Rivkin (born April 6, 1962) is an American media executive and former United States diplomat who is chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Motion Picture Association (MPA).
Rivkin served as Assistant Secretary of St ...
Harry K. Thomas, Jr.
Harry Keels Thomas Jr. (born June 3, 1956) is an American diplomat who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Zimbabwe.
Career
Thomas joined the Foreign Service in 1984. His early postings included service in the List ...
Thomas R. Pickering
Thomas Reeve "Tom" Pickering (born November 5, 1931) is a retired United States ambassador. Among his many diplomatic appointments, he served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 1989 to 1992.
Early life and education
Born in Orange, ...
* Former Presidents:
Bruce Laingen
Lowell Bruce Laingen (August 6, 1922 – July 15, 2019) was an American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Malta from 1977 to 1979. Laingen is best known for having been the most senior American official held hostage during th ...
David D. Newsom
David Dunlop Newsom (January 6, 1918 – March 30, 2008) was an American diplomat. He served as the United States Ambassador to Libya from 1965 to 1969, the United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 1969 to 1974, the Uni ...
Awards
*'' The Walter and Leonore Annenberg Award for Excellence in Diplomacy''
:The Academy hosts an annual awards luncheon at the Department of State to recognize an individual or group who has made exemplary contributions to the field of American diplomacy.
*''The Arthur Ross Award for Distinguished Reporting and Analysis of Foreign Affairs''
:Since 2004, the Academy has presented the Arthur Ross Award to journalists who have produced the most compelling and insightful pieces concerning American diplomatic efforts.
*''The Douglas Dillon Award for Distinguished Writing on American Diplomacy''
:Since 1995, the Academy has awarded an annual prize for a book of distinction on the practice of American diplomacy. This award honors those who broaden public understanding of the need for excellence in American diplomacy.
Programs
Present
* FSOT Career Track Virtual Series
* Michigan Ambassadors Forum
*Texas Tech Ambassadors Forum
*Nebraska Ambassadors Forum
*Arthur Ross Discussions of American Diplomacy
*Joseph J. Sisco Memorial Forum
*Ambassador Speaker Series
Past
*America's Diplomats screening and discussion
*Hushang Ansary Forums: Global Strategies for a Global America
*Diplomacy and Democracy
*Diplomatic Professional Education and Training Project
*Integrating Instruments of Power and Influence
Publications
*''Bringing America's Multilateral Diplomacy into the 21st Century'' (2022)
*''Changing the Risk Paradigm for U.S. Diplomats'' (2021)
*''Strengthening the Department of State'' (2019)
*''Support for American Jobs: Requirements for Next-Generation Commercial Diplomacy Programs'' (2016)
*''American Diplomacy at Risk'' (2015)
*''Diplomacy in a Time of Scarcity'' (2012)
*''First Line of Defense: Ambassadors, Embassies, and American Interests Abroad''
*''Coalitions: Building and Maintenance''
*''Commercial Diplomacy and the National Interest''
*''Preventing Genocide''
Scholarships
Past
*''The
Philip Merrill
Philip Merrill (April 28, 1934 – June 10, 2006) was an American diplomat, publisher, banker, and philanthropist.
Career
Born Philip Merrill Levine, he was a graduate of Cornell University and Harvard Business School. At Cornell, he was manag ...
Scholarship''
:The Academy, in collaboration with
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
's
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., United States, with campuses in Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China. It is consistently ranked one of th ...
(SAIS), awarded the Philip Merrill Fellowship for a winning essay on the practice of American diplomacy. The fellowship provided one half of SAIS tuition for each of two years of study. The last year for this award was 2013.
*''The Leonard Marks Foundation Award for Creative Writing on American Foreign Policy''
:Participants in this contest submitted essays on specific challenges to American diplomacy, and proposed policy recommendations to address them. The Academy selected three winners at differing award levels. The last year for this award was 2009.