The American Academy of Diplomacy is a private, non-profit, non-partisan, 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, and essential tool in the promotion of U.S. values, security and prosperity.

In its early years, the Academy provided the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee

United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It is charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. The Foreign Relations Committee is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid programs as...

 with commentary on the qualifications of those nominated by the President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 as ambassador

Ambassador

An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....

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.

Leadership

Thomas R. Pickering

Thomas R. Pickering

Thomas Reeve "Tom" Pickering , 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:...

, Chairman

A. Elizabeth Jones

A. Elizabeth Jones

A. Elizabeth Jones served as the U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan, from 1995 to 1997. She served as the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasia in 2003. She was promoted to the rank of Career Ambassador in 2004....

, Vice-Chairman

Amb. Ronald E. Neumann

Ronald E. Neumann

Ronald E. Neumann was formerly the United States Ambassador to Afghanistan and previously served as ambassador to Bahrain and Algeria . He is the son of former ambassador Robert G. Neumann and traveled extensively after college in Afghanistan while his father was ambassador there...

, President

Nicholas A. Veliotes

Nicholas A. Veliotes

Nicholas Alexander Veliotes is a former United States Foreign Service Officer and diplomat. He served as United States Ambassador to Jordan and Egypt...

, Treasurer

Roscoe S. Suddarth

Roscoe S. Suddarth

Roscoe Seldon "Rocky" Suddarth is an American career diplomat. Suddarth was a Foreign Service Officer and served as United States Ambassador to Jordan from 1987 to 1990...

, Secretary

Board of Directors

Barbara Bodine

Barbara Bodine

Barbara K. Bodine is a American academic and former diplomat.-Education:Bodine earned her B.A. in Political Science and Asian Studies magna cum laude from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She became a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, Gamma Rho chapter, fraternity for women...

, Avis Bohlen

Avis Bohlen

Avis Thayer Bohlen is a diplomat and former Assistant Secretary for Arms Control and United States Ambassador to Bulgaria . Her parents were Charles E. Bohlen, former Ambassador to the Soviet Union , and Avis Howard Thayer...

, Timothy M. Carney

Timothy M. Carney

Timothy Michael Carney is a retired American diplomat and consultant.-Biography:Carney was born in Missouri and went on to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1966. He studied advanced Southeast Asian affairs at Cornell University in 1975-76. Carney joined the Foreign...

, Wendy Chamberlin

Wendy Chamberlin

Wendy Chamberlin is a veteran diplomat who has served in the United States Department of State and USAID, worked for the UN High Commissioner on Refugees , and now serves as President of the Middle East Institute.- US Department of State :...

, Harriet Elam-Thomas

Harriet Elam-Thomas

Harriet Elam-Thomas is a United States diplomat and university professor who directs the Diplomacy Program at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. From 1999–2002, Thomas served as the United States Ambassador to Senegal....

, Charles W. Freeman Jr.

Charles W. Freeman, Jr.

Charles W. Freeman, Jr. is an American diplomat, author, and writer. He has served for the State and Defense Departments in many different capacities in the past thirty years, with the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs calling his career "remarkably varied"...

, Edward Gnehm

Edward Gnehm

Edward William Gnehm, Jr., also known as Skip Gnehm was most recently the U.S. ambassador to Jordan and is now a faculty member at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs....

, David Greenlee

David Greenlee

David Greenlee is an American voice actor and actor best known for his portrayal of the nerdy hall monitor Dwight in the 1982 television series Fame from season 2 through to season 5 .-Anime Roles:...

, Marc Grossman

Marc Grossman

Marc Grossman is the United States Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. He served as United States Ambassador to Turkey, Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs, and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs....

, James R. Jones, Princeton N. Lyman

Princeton N. Lyman

Princeton Nathan Lyman is a diplomat and former United States Ambassador to Nigeria and South Africa , and former Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs...

, Patricia Lynch Ewell

Patricia Lynch Ewell

Patricia Lynch Ewell is a former United States Ambassador to Madagascar and the Comoros . Ewell served as Press Secretary to First Lady Pat Nixon. She is a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy and Vice-President of the Council of American Ambassadors.-References:...

, John McLaughlin

John E. McLaughlin

John Edward McLaughlin is the former Deputy Director of Central Intelligence and former Acting Director of Central Intelligence. McLaughlin is an accomplished magician and lectured on magic at the 2006 International Brotherhood of Magicians Annual Convention in Miami, Florida...

, W. Robert Pearson

W. Robert Pearson

W. Robert Pearson is a former Foreign Service Officer who served as United States Ambassador to Turkey and later as Director of Human Resources in the Foreign Service until his retirement in 2006...

, Edward M. Rowell, J. Stapleton Roy

J. Stapleton Roy

J. Stapleton Roy was a 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 , Hong Kong, Taipei, Beijing , Singapore, and Jakarta...

, Teresita Schaffer, George Staples, Johnny Young

Johnny Young (diplomat)

Johnny Young was born on February 6, 1940 in Savannah, Georgia and grew up in Philadelphia. He graduated from Temple University with a bachelor's degree in 1966 and later went into the American Academy of Diplomacy before joing the U.S. State Department...

Former Chairmen

Joseph J. Sisco

Joseph J. Sisco

Joseph John Sisco , was a diplomat who played a major role in then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East and whose career in the State Department spanned five presidential administrations and numerous foreign-policy crises.-Early life:A Chicago native, Dr. Sisco...

, Max M. Kampelman

Max Kampelman

Max Kampelman, born Max Kampelmacher , is former head of the American delegation to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. He was born in New York...

, Lawrence S. Eagleburger

Lawrence Eagleburger

Lawrence Sidney Eagleburger was an American statesman and former career diplomat, who served briefly as the United States Secretary of State under President George H. W. Bush. Previously, he had served in lesser capacities under Presidents Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H....

, Frank C. Carlucci

Frank Carlucci

Frank Charles Carlucci III is a former official in the United States Government, associated with the Republican Party. The most prominent office held by Carlucci was as Secretary of Defense from 1987 until 1989 in the Reagan Administration.-Early life and career:Carlucci was born in Scranton,...

, Sol M. Linowitz

Sol Linowitz

Sol Myron Linowitz was an American diplomat, lawyer, and businessman born in Trenton, NJ.Linowitz helped negotiate the return of the Panama Canal to Panama under the direction of President Jimmy Carter...

, Elliot Richardson

Elliot Richardson

Elliot Lee Richardson was an American lawyer and politician who was a member of the cabinet of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. As U.S...

Former Presidents

Bruce Laingen

Bruce Laingen

Lowell Bruce Laingen was the senior American official held hostage during the Iran hostage crisis.-Biography:Laingen, born on a farm in southern Minnesota, graduated from St. Olaf College. He also studied at the National War College, and received a M.A. in International Relations from the...

, Brandon Grove

Brandon Grove

Brandon Hambright Grove, Jr. is a former first United States Ambassador to German Democratic Republic or GDR and Congo-Kinshasa and serves on the Board of directors of the American Academy of Diplomacy....

, David H. Popper

David H. Popper

David Henry Popper was a diplomat and former United States Ambassador to Cyprus and Chile . He was a member and former President of the American Academy of Diplomacy.-Early Life:...

, David D. Newsom

David D. Newsom

David Dunlop Newsom was the United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 1969 until 1974. Also, he was the United States Ambassador to the Philippines from 1977 to 1978....

Scholarships

• The Philip Merrill
  Philip Merrill
  Philip Merrill was an American diplomat, publisher, banker, and philanthropist who committed suicide while traveling alone on his boat in the Chesapeake Bay.- Career and philanthropy :...
  
   Scholarship

The Academy, in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies

Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies

The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies , a division of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., is one of the world's leading and most prestigious graduate schools devoted to the study of international affairs, economics, diplomacy, and policy research and...

 (SAIS), awards the Philip Merrill Fellowship for a winning essay on the practice of American diplomacy. The fellowship provides one half of SAIS tuition for each of two years of study.

• The Leonard Marks Foundation Award for Creative Writing on American Foreign Policy

Participants in this contest submit essays on specific challenges to American diplomacy, and propose policy recommendations to address them. The Academy selects three winners at differing award levels. The last year for this award was 2009.

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.