Robert Daly is director of the

Kissinger Institute on China and the United States The Kissinger Institute on China and the United States is a non-profit research organization dedicated to promoting greater understanding of issues in the Sino-American relations, relationship between the People's Republic of China and the United S ...

at the

Woodrow Wilson Center The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (or Wilson Center) is a quasi-government entity and think tank which conducts research to inform public policy. Located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washi ...

and a former US Foreign Service officer and actor.

Early life and education

Daly grew up in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

and received his B.A. in literature from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

in 1984.

Career

Between 1986 and 1991 Daly was a Foreign Service officer, also working as cultural exchange officer at the US Embassy in Beijing. After leaving the Foreign Service, he taught Chinese at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

until 1992. Between 1992 and 1999, he worked as a host, actor, and writer on TV and theater projects in China and helped to produce

Chinese language Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the wor ...

versions of U.S children TV series. Daly also directed the

China Seminar and was as a commentator on Chinese affairs for

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

, the

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

, and Chinese television and radio stations. In 2000 and 2001 he served as director of the U.S.-China Housing Initiative. Between 2001 and 2007, he was American Director of the Johns Hopkins University Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies in

Nanjing, China Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

. Between 2007 and 2013, Daly was director of the Maryland China Initiative of the University of Maryland. . In August 2013, Robert Daly was named the second director of the

at the Woodrow Wilson Center. He succeeded Ambassador

J. Stapleton Roy James Stapleton Roy (; born June 16, 1935) is a former senior United States diplomat specializing in Asian affairs. A fluent Chinese speaker, Roy spent much of his career in East Asia, where his assignments included Bangkok Bangkok, official ...

, who directed the Kissinger Institute since its founding in 2008. Daly has testified before Congress on

China–United States relations The relationship between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the United States of America (USA) has been complex since 1949 with mutual distrust leading to complications. The relationship is one of close economic ties (economic ties grew ...

lectured at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, the

East-West Center East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...

, the

Asia Society The Asia Society is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States (Manhattan, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco) and around the world (Hong Kong, Man ...

, and the

National Committee on United States–China Relations The National Committee on United States China Relations (NCUSCR) is a nonprofit organization and advisory body founded in 1966 to encourage understanding and cooperation between the United States and China. Since 1966, the committee has conducted ...

. Daly lived in China for 11 years. He has interpreted for American and Chinese politicians, including

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004, and as pres ...

, and

Li Yuanchao Li Yuanchao (born 20 November 1950) is a retired Chinese politician. He was the Vice President of the People's Republic of China from 2013 to 2018 and the Honorary President of the Red Cross Society of China. He was a member of the Secretaria ...

. Daly is a participant of the Task Force on U.S.-China Policy convened by

's Center on US-China Relations.

TV actor

In 1992, Daly took part as an actor in a TV series called "

Beijinger in New York ''A Native of Beijing in New York'', also known as ''Beijinger in New York'' () is a novel by Glen Cao (曹桂林), based on his own immigrant story. It was translated into English by Ted Wang (卡本特王). The story follows Qiming Wang and his ...

", broadcast on 1 October 1994. People in China still recognize Daly for his role in the drama.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Daly, Robert Living people Cornell University staff Syracuse University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) American diplomats American sinologists