January 2, 2008
Contact: Emanuel Costache '09
Media Relations Intern
413/542-2321
Caroline Jenkins Hanna
Director of Media Relations
413/542-8417
Photos and audio of this event
AMHERST, Mass.—Christopher R. Hill, assistant secretary of state in the bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, will speak on “The Ethics of Diplomacy: Conscience and Pragmatism in Foreign Affairs” on Wednesday, Jan. 30 at 8 p.m. in Johnson Chapel* at Amherst College. A reception will follow the talk. Both events are free and open to the public.
Hill is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service whose most recent assignment was as ambassador to the Republic of Korea. On Feb. 14, 2005, he was named head of the U.S. delegation to the Six-Party Talks on the North Korean nuclear issue. Previously, he held the positions of U.S. Ambassador to Poland, Ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia and Special Envoy to Kosovo. He also worked as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Southeast European Affairs in the National Security Council.
Earlier in his Foreign Service career, Hill served tours in Belgrade, Warsaw, Seoul and Tirana and on the Department of State’s Policy Planning staff and in the Department’s Operation Center. While on a fellowship with the American Political Science Association, he worked as a staff member for former New York Congressman Stephen Solarz, addressing Eastern European issues. He also served as the Department of State’s Senior Country Officer for Poland. He received the State Department’s Distinguished Service Award for his contributions as a member of the U.S. negotiating team in the Bosnia peace settlement and was a recipient of the Robert S. Frasure Award for Peace Negotiations for his work on the Kosovo crisis. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he was a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon.
Hill earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Bowdoin College and a master’s degree from the Naval War College. He speaks Polish, Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian and Albanian.
The event is sponsored by the Schwemm Fund.
* Originally scheduled to take place in the Cole Assembly Room of Amherst’s Converse Hall, the location of the lecture was changed to Johnson Chapel due to media coverage needs.
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