 |
H.E. Peter Ammon
Ambassador of Germany to the United States
SESSION
Advocacy in Action Dinner
Ambassador Ammon has served as Ambassador to the U.S. since August
2011, following his appointment as State Secretary at the Foreign
office. He has also served as Germany’s Ambassador to France, and
has held other diplomatic postings in London, Senegal, India and
Washington. Ambassador Ammon has also served as the Director General
for Economics at the German Foreign Office and Head of Policy
Planning and speech writer to former German President Roman Herzog.
He holds a doctorate in Economics from Berlin’s Free University.
|
|
 |
Dr. Steven Bayme
AJC Director of Contemporary Jewish Life
SESSION
AJC University Breakfast
Steven Bayme serves as Director of AJC’s Contemporary Jewish Life
Department and Koppelman Institute on American Jewish-Israeli
Relations. His responsibilities include Jewish family issues, Jewish
education, Israel-Diaspora relations, Jewish identity and
continuity, and intra-Jewish relations. He has lectured widely and
taught at Yeshiva University, Jewish Theological Seminary, and
Hebrew Union College, among others. He also serves as Visiting
Associate Professor of History at the Jewish Theological Seminary.
He has been named three times in the Forward’s annual list of the
top 50 Jewish leaders who “make a difference.”
|
|
 |
Deidre Berger
Director, AJC Berlin
SESSION
AJC University Breakfast
Deidre Berger serves as Director of AJC’s Berlin Office/Lawrence and
Lee Ramer Institute for German-Jewish Relations since 2000. In that
capacity, she advocates for a strong transatlantic partnership, a
deepened understanding of Mideast affairs, dialogue among ethnic and
religious groups, and the endurance of Holocaust remembrance. Ms.
Berger lectures frequently in Germany and the U.S. on European
security affairs and German-Jewish relations. Prior to joining AJC,
Ms. Berger worked for 15 years as a foreign correspondent based in
Germany, reporting for the Washington, D.C.-based public radio
network, National Public Radio.
|
|
 |
H.E. Rachad Bouhlal
Ambassador of Morocco to the United States
SESSION
Advocacy in Action Dinner
Ambassador Bouhlal was named Ambassador to the U.S. in December
2011, after serving as Ambassador to Germany. Prior to this
appointment, he served as the Ambassador to the EU, Belgium and
Luxembourg. Ambassador Bouhlal has held other senior government
positions, including serving as Secretary General of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and Secretary General of the
Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment. He also served as an
advisor to the Prime Minister on economic and financial matters and
is a founding member of the Ribat al Fath Association for
Sustainable Development and the International Wildlife Film and
Environment Festival. Ambassador Bouhlal has received numerous
decorations from the governments of Belgium, Germany and France.
|
|
 |
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde
Bishop of Washington
SESSION
AJC Face-to-Face Advocacy Visit
Rev. Dr. Mariann Budde is the first woman to serve as bishop in the
Diocese of Washington. Earlier, she served as rector of St. John’s,
Minneapolis. Her other ministries then included serving as Dean of
the Minneapolis Region, General Convention deputy, on the Standing
Committee, and in support of diocesan multi-cultural ministries. She
also serves as a Conference Leader for CREDO, an organization
committed to clergy wellness and vocational renewal. A well-regarded
preacher, teacher, and conference leader, she is the author of Gathering Up the Fragments: Preaching as Spiritual Practice.
|
|
 |
H.E. Michael Collins
Ambassador of Ireland to the United States
SESSION
Advocacy in Action Dinner
Ambassador Michael Collins became Ireland’s Ambassador to the U.S.
on September 18, 2007. Prior to his appointment, he served in the
Department of Foreign Affairs, as Second Secretary-General at the
Department of the Taoiseach (Prime Minister of Ireland). In that
capacity, he worked on the North Ireland peace process and on
European Union issues, including Ireland’s EU presidency in 2004.
Ambassador Collins has also served as Ireland’s Ambassador to Saudi
Arabia, where he was responsible for the Gulf States, and as
Ambassador to the Czech Republic and Ukraine. He has held additional
postings in Ireland and around the world, including previous
appointments in New York and Washington, since he joined the
Department in 1974.
|
|
 |
H.E. João Vale de Almeida
Ambassador of the European Union to the United States
SESSION
AJC Face-to-Face Visit
Ambassador Vale de Almeida became the European Union’s Ambassador to
the U.S. in August 2010. Prior to this appointment, he served as the
Director General for External Relations at the European Commission,
where he helped formulate and execute the EU’s foreign policy.
Ambassador Vale de Almeida has held other senior appointments in the
European External Action Service, serving for five yeas as the Head
of Cabinet for European Commission President José Manuel Barroso.
Prior to joining the European Commission in 1982, he worked as a
journalist in Lisbon. He was decorated with the Grand Cross of the
Order of the Infante D. Henrique by the President of Portugal in
2011.
|
|
 |
H.E. Franҫois Delattre
Ambassador of France to the United States
SESSION
Advocacy in Action Dinner
Ambassador Franҫois Delattre was appointed Ambassador to the U.S. in
February 2011, after serving as France’s Ambassador to Canada and
Consul General in New York. Previously, Ambassador Delattre was on
President Jacques Chirac’s foreign policy team, where he was
responsible for European and trans-Atlantic defense and security and
managing the crisis in Bosnia. He has held additional postings in
the Foreign Ministry, including serving in Foreign Minister Alain
Juppé’s cabinet.
|
|
 |
Robert Elman
AJC President
Robert Elman is president of AJC. He previously served the
organization as a member of the Steering Committee for AJC’s
Strategic Plan and as co-chair of the Task Force on Chapters. He is
on the Advisory Boards of the Transatlantic Institute, Thanks to
Scandinavia, and the Interreligious Affairs Commission. He was an
officer, and then president, of AJC’s Nashville Unit. Bob has also
served on the boards of numerous corporate, Jewish, and other
nonprofit organizations. At age 29, he was appointed president of
KLH, which manufactured stereo systems, and was the subject of
feature articles in Business Week and Newsweek. He co-founded DESA
Industries, and after AMCA International acquired it, Bob joined
AMCA as group vice president. In conjunction with the management
team, he organized and directed the management buyout of the
Consumer Products Division. DESA grew from $57 million in sales in
1985 to $325 million in 1999. Bob received his Bachelor’s with
honors in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute and his M.B.A. from the Harvard Graduate School of
Business. He and Sylvia, his wife of 43 years, have three children
and four grandchildren.
|
|
 |
Jeffrey Goldberg
National Correspondent, The Atlantic
SESSION
Plenary: Arab Spring or Arab Winter: Confronting the Rise of
Political Islam
Jeffrey Goldberg is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and a
recipient of the National Magazine Award for Reporting for his
coverage of Islamic terrorism.
Before joining The Atlantic in 2007, Goldberg was a Middle East
correspondent, and the Washington correspondent, for The New Yorker.
Previously, he served as a correspondent for The New York Times
Magazine and New York magazine. He has also written for the Jewish
Daily Forward, and was a columnist for The Jerusalem Post.
His book
Prisoners was hailed as one of the best books of 2006 by the Los
Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Slate, The
Progressive, Washingtonian magazine, and Playboy.
|
|
 |
David Harris
AJC Executive Director
SESSION
Plenary: The Last Word with David Harris
David Harris is one of the Jewish people’s leading advocates.
Executive Director of AJC since 1990, he travels the globe meeting
with world leaders to advance the well-being of Israel, combat
anti-Semitism, monitor the condition of Jewish communities, and
promote intergroup and interreligious understanding. He has been
honored by more than ten nations. The author of seven books, he has
written hundreds of articles, op-eds, and letters in leading
newspapers and magazines, has a regular spot on the CBS Radio
Network, and a popular blog at The Huffington Post and The Jerusalem
Post. He is also a monthly contributor to the Spanish daily El Pais.
|
|
 |
Jason Isaacson
Director, AJC Office of Government and International Affairs
SESSION
AJC University Breakfast
Plenary: Arab Spring or Arab Winter: Confronting the Rise of
Political Islam
Jason Isaacson, AJC Director of Government and International Affairs
since 1991, is a longtime analyst of U.S. political and strategic
affairs. He was an observer to the 1991-92 Middle East peace talks
in Madrid, Moscow and Washington. He has long coordinated periodic
AJC ministerial meetings throughout the Middle East, North Africa,
Europe and Asia, including numerous visits that were the first by an
American Jewish civic organization. In July 2009, King Mohammed VI
bestowed on Isaacson the honor of Chevalier of the Order of the
Throne of the Kingdom of Morocco.
|
|
 |
Professor Edward Kaufman
Hebrew University
SESSION
AJC University Breakfast
Dr. Edward (Edy) Kaufman was born and grew up in Argentina, but has
lived in Israel since 1960, serving on the faculty of the Hebrew
University since 1970. His work has focused on human rights and
conflict resolution on several continents, especially Latin America
and the Middle East. As Executive Director of the Truman Institute,
he has focused the Institute’s work on joint research with
Palestinian academics, and has helped to introduce conflict
resolution as a discipline to the Hebrew University, Israel, and the
Middle East in general.
|
|
 |
H.E. Ban Ki-moon
United Nations Secretary-General
SESSION
World Leaders Plenary (via video)
Ban Ki-moon is the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations.
His priorities have been to mobilize world leaders around a set of
new global challenges, from climate change and economic upheaval to
pandemics and increasing pressures involving food, energy and water.
He has sought to be a bridge-builder, to give voice to the world’s
poorest and most vulnerable people, and to strengthen the
Organization itself. Mr. Ban took office in January 2007 and was
unanimously re-elected in January 2011. The Secretary-General was
born in the Republic of Korea in 1944. At the time of his election
as Secretary-General, Mr. Ban was his country's Minister of Foreign
Affairs and Trade.
|
|
 |
Dr. Matthew Levitt
Director, Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, The
Washington Institute for Near East Policy
SESSION
AJC University Breakfast
Matthew Levitt is a senior fellow and director of The Washington
Institute's Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. He
served earlier as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and
analysis at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In that capacity,
he served both as a senior official within the department's
terrorism and financial intelligence branch and as deputy chief of
the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, one of sixteen U.S.
intelligence agencies under the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence. He has written extensively on terrorism, illicit
finance and sanctions, and the Middle East.
|
|
 |
H.E. Elmar Mammadyarov
Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan
SESSION
Ministers Forum
Advocacy in Action Dinner
Prior to assuming his present role as Foreign Minister, Elmar
Mammadyarov served earlier in his career as Director of the State
Protocol Division and in the Permanent Mission of the Republic of
Azerbaijan to the UN in New York. After his service in New York, he
returned to Baku and served as deputy director of the Department of
International Organizations in the Ministry. From 1998-2003 he
served as counselor at the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan to
the U.S. In 2003, he was appointed Ambassador of the Republic of
Azerbaijan to Italy, and in 2004, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
|
|
 |
H.E. Hans Peter Manz
Ambassador of Austria to the United States
SESSION
Advocacy in Action Dinner
Ambassador Manz became Austria’s Ambassador to the U.S. in December
2011, after serving as Ambassador in Switzerland. He is a career
diplomat and has served in Iran and New York, where he was the
Deputy Chief of Mission at the Permanent Mission of Austria to the
United Nations. Ambassador Manz also served as the Diplomatic
Advisor to the Austrian Federal Chancellor from 2000 to 2007 and has
held other postings in Austria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in
Vienna.
|
|
 |
Rabbi Noam Marans
AJC Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations
SESSION
AJC University Breakfast
Rabbi Noam E. Marans is AJC's director of Interreligious and
Intergroup Relations, overseeing national interfaith outreach,
dialogue and advocacy. Before joining AJC in 2001, for sixteen years
he served as the rabbi of Temple Israel in Ridgewood, New Jersey. A
past president of the Bergen County Board of Rabbis, Rabbi Marans
was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary, which recently
granted him an honorary doctorate for a quarter century of service
to the Jewish people. He received his B.A. in political science from
Columbia University. Rabbi Marans has been awarded numerous honors,
including the Martin Luther King Civic Leadership Award. His
writings have been published widely, appearing in the New York
Times, Newsday, Jewish Week, Forward, and Jerusalem Post, among
others.
|
|
|
Patty Marcus
Director, AJC’s Asia Pacific Institute
SESSION
AJC University
Patty Marcus is the director of AJC’s Asia Pacific Institute. Patty
is an attorney with more than 20 years working in international
affairs, with a focus on Asia. She worked extensively for the U.S.
Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of State and
NGOs funded by USAID on international democracy development, rule of
law, human rights, counter-terrorism, transparency and civil society
strengthening initiatives. In addition to Asia, Patty worked in
Iraq, Kurdistan, Africa and the Middle East. She served as Country
Program Manager with USAID in Indonesia and East Timor, developing
and funding projects and maintaining relationships with government
leaders, politically influential parties, media, academia, think
tanks and civic and religious organizations. Patty received a J.D.
from the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University, B.A. from
American University, and a Certificate in International Law and
Strategic Analysis from Tel Aviv University’s Jaffe Center of
Strategic Studies.
|
|
 |
H.E. Ashok Kumar Mirpuri
Ambassador of Singapore to the United States
SESSION
Advocacy in Action Dinner
Ambassador Mirpuri became Singapore’s Ambassador to the U.S. in July
2012, after serving as Ambassador to Indonesia. He has also served
as High Commissioner to both Malaysia and Australia. Ambassador
Mirpuri joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1984, when he was
appointed Director of the Policy Planning and Analysis Directorate
for Southeast Asia. He has served in diplomatic posts in Jakarta and
the UK, and in 2010, Ambassador Mirpuri was awarded the Public
Administration Medal (Gold) by the government of Singapore.
|
|
 |
H.E. Olexander Motsyk
Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States
SESSION
Advocacy in Action Dinner
Ambassador Motsyk became Ukraine’s Ambassador to the U.S. in June
2010, and concurrently serves as Ukraine’s Ambassador to Trinidad
and Tobago and Antigua and Barbuda. He is also the Permanent
Observer of Ukraine to the Organization of American States. Prior to
his posting in Washington, Ambassador Motsyk served as Ambassador to
Poland, and from 1997 to 2001, he was Ambassador to Turkey.
Ambassador Motsyk is a career diplomat, also having served at
Ukraine’s Permanent Mission to the UN in New York. In the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs in Kiev, he has held senior positions, including
a stint as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. He has led
Ukrainian delegations on bilateral and multilateral negotiations and
is the recipient of numerous honors and awards.
|
|
 |
H.E. Christos P. Panagopoulos
Ambassador of Greece to the United States
SESSION
Advocacy in Action Dinner
Ambassador Panagopoulos became Greece’s Ambassador to the U.S. in
September 2012. He previously served as the Director of the
Diplomatic Cabinet of the Minister and Alternate Minister of Foreign
Affairs. Ambassador Panagopoulos has held ambassadorships in Serbia
and Cyprus, and has served as Consul-General in Los Angeles and
Boston. In addition to his foreign postings, Ambassador Panagopoulos
has worked on European integration and Balkan issues. He has
received numerous awards, including the Grand Commander of the Order
of the Phoenix of the Hellenic Republic and Grand Commander of the
Order of Merit of the Republic of Cyprus.
|
|
 |
Jonathan D. Pollack
Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy and Director of the John L. Thornton
China Center, Brookings Institution
SESSION
AJC University
Jonathan D. Pollack is a senior fellow in Foreign Policy and
director of the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings
Institution. A specialist on East Asian international politics and
security, he has published extensively on Chinese political-military
strategy, U.S.-China relations, the political and security dynamics
of the Korean Peninsula, and U.S. strategy and policy in Asia and
the Pacific. His latest publication, No Exit: North Korea,
Nuclear Weapons, and International Security, was published
in May 2011 by Routledge for the International Institute for
Strategic Studies.
|
|
 |
H.E. Elena Poptodorova
Ambassador of Bulgaria to the United States
SESSION
Advocacy in Action Dinner
Elena Poptodorova serves now, for the second time, as Bulgaria’s
Ambassador to the U.S. She has also served as Director of the
Security Policy Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In
addition, she has served as Ambassador-at-Large for the Black Sea
Region, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and
Director of the Human Rights and International Humanitarian
Organizations Directorate. Earlier in her career (1990-2001) she was
elected as a Member of Parliament. She is a member of the
Washington-based Executive Council on Diplomacy and Women’s Foreign
Policy Group.
|
|
 |
H.E. Ebrahim Rasool
Ambassador of South Africa to the United States
SESSION
Advocacy in Action Dinner
Ambassador Rasool became South Africa’s Ambassador to the United
States in August 2010. Prior to this appointment, he served as a
Member of Parliament in the National Assembly, Special Advisor to
the State president of the Republic of South Africa, and Premier
(governor of the Western Cape Province). He has also held leadership
positions in the United Democratic Front and the African National
Congress. Ambassador Rasool is a proponent of interfaith dialogue,
and he has received numerous awards for this work. Ambassador Rasool
has also held leadership positions in government, where he led the
Departments of Health, Welfare, finance and Economic Development.
|
|
 |
Rabbi Uri Regev
President and CEO, Hiddush
SESSION
The Great Debate: Synagogue and State: The Battle Over Religious
Pluralism in Israel
Rabbi Uri Regev serves as the President and CEO of the educational
and advocacy Israel-Diaspora partnership, “Hiddush - Freedom Of
Religion for Israel” and of its Israeli counterpart, “Hiddush – For
Freedom of Religion and Equality.” For seven years he served as
president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, a global
umbrella organization of the Progressive, Reform, Liberal and
Reconstructionist movements, serving more than 1,200 congregations
and communities in 42 countries on six continents. As head of the
World Union, he worked to strengthen modern, pluralistic Jewish life
worldwide.
|
|
 |
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
Chief Rabbi, Efrat, Israel
SESSION
The Great Debate: Synagogue and State: The Battle Over Religious
Pluralism in Israel
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is one of the founders and the first spiritual
leader of the Lincoln Square Synagogue in New York, which he led for
19 years. In 1983, he left New York to become the rabbi of Efrat, a
new Israeli city that is now a flourishing community of close to
12,000 people. He serves as Chancellor and Rosh Yeshiva of Ohr Torah
Stone Institutions, a network of over 3,000 students with programs
characterized by a synthesis of Jewish values, Zionist ideals and a
commitment to social justice.
|
|
 |
Simone Rodan-Benzaquen
Director, AJC Paris
SESSION
AJC University Breakfast
Simone Rodan-Benzaquen serves as Director of AJC Paris. Earlier, she
served as an adviser to Francois Zimeray, Ambassador for Human
Rights in the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. She
was also the founding General Secretary of the Brussels and
Paris-based Medbridge Strategy Center, an organization created to
strengthen ties between political and civil society leaders in
Europe and democratic voices in the Middle East. She serves also as
Vice-President and co-founder of SOS Darfur, co-chaired by French
intellectual Bernard-Henri Levy. She is fluent in four European
languages.
|
|
 |
Rabbi David Rosen
AJC International Director of Interreligious Affairs
SESSION
AJC University Breakfast
Rabbi David Rosen serves as Director of AJC’s Department for
Interreligious Affairs and Director of its Heilbrunn Institute for
International Interreligious Understanding. He is also President of
IJCIC, which represents World Jewry in its relations with other
religions. In addition, he serves as an International President of
the World Conference of Religion for Peace, an Honorary President of
the International Council of Christians and Jews, a member of the
Executive Committee of the World Congress of Imams and Rabbis, and a
member of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate's delegation for
interreligious dialogue with the Holy See. From 1979 to 1985, Rabbi
Rosen was Chief Rabbi of Ireland.
|
|
 |
H.E. Manuel Sager
Ambassador of Switzerland to the United States
SESSIONS
Advocacy in Action Dinner
Ambassador Sager was appointed Switzerland’s Ambassador to the U.S.
in October 2010, after serving as the head of the Political Affairs
Division in the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, where he was
responsible for coordinating the country’s foreign policy agenda.
Ambassador Sager joined the FDFA in 1988 and has previously served
in New York, Washington and London, where he was the Executive
Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Prior to joining the FDFA, Ambassador Sager worked as a lawyer in
Phoenix, Arizona.
|
|
 |
H.E. Antonis Samaras
Prime Minister of Greece
SESSION
World Leaders Plenary
Antonis Samaras studied economics at Amherst College and received
his Master’s degree in business administration from Harvard. In
1977, he was elected for the first time as a Parliament deputy. He
has since served his nation as foreign minister, minister of the
economy, and minister of culture. After the widely-watched June 2012
election, in which his party, New Democracy, emerged the strong
victor, Samaras successfully formed a coalition with PASOK and DIMAR
and assumed the post of Prime Minister.
|
|
 |
H.E. Ramón Gil-Casares Satrústegui
Ambassador of Spain to the United States
SESSION
Advocacy in Action Dinner
Ambassador Gil-Casares was appointed Ambassador to the United States
in April 2012. He previously served as Ambassador to Sudan,
Ambassador to South Africa, and Ambassador-at-Large for Africa.
Prior to these ministerial positions, Ambassador Gil-Casares worked
at the German Marshall Fund in Washington and in President José
María Aznar’s office where he served as the Director of the
Department for International Affairs and Defense and Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs. Ambassador Gil-Casares has worked in
other Spanish Embassies around the world, including New York, and is
a Second Lieutenant of the Infantry.
|
|
 |
Daniel Schwammenthal
Director, AJC Transatlantic Institute
SESSION
AJC University Breakfast
Daniel Schwammenthal, an authority on European affairs, is director
of AJC’s Transatlantic Institute in Brussels, Belgium. Located in
the city that is home to the Council of the European Union, this AJC
institute seeks to foster relationships among the EU, the U.S. and
Israel. Schwammenthal, a native of Germany, completed his
undergraduate studies in political science at the University of
Aachen, and earned an M.A. in international relations and
international communications from Boston University, and a Master of
Law (European law and policy) from the University of Manchester. He
was a reporter for Dow Jones Newswires in Bonn, Berlin and Brussels,
and in 2004 became an editorial-page writer and op-ed editor for The
Wall Street Journal Europe. He assumed the directorship of the
Transatlantic Institute on 2011.
|
|
 |
H.E. Karel Schwarzenberg
Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic
SESSION
Ministers Forum
Karel Schwarzenberg is a Czech politician, the leader of TOP 09
party and the current Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech
Republic. He took office as Foreign Minister in July 2010, and also
occupied the position from 2007 to 2009. Minister Schwarzenberg is a
member of the high nobility of Bohemia and also the current head of
the House of Schwarzenberg since 1979. He is a former Senator from
Prague. In May 2010, he was elected a member of the Chamber of
Deputies, gaining the largest number of Preference votes.
|
|
 |
Dina Siegel Vann
Director, AJC’s Latino and Latin American Institute
SESSION
AJC University
Dina Siegel Vann, a native of Mexico City, is Director of AJC’s
Latino and Latin American Institute. Among the Institute’s main
goals is pursuing outreach and coalition building efforts with the
Latino communities in the U.S. At the same time, the Institute seeks
to ensure the strengthening of ties among the U.S., Israel and Latin
America. Before coming to AJC, Siegel Vann served as United Nations
and Latin American Affairs Director for B’nai B’rith International.
From 1982-1996 she served as Political Affairs Director for the
Mexican Jewish Community. Siegel Vann graduated Magna Cum Laude with
a B.A. in English Literature from Tel Aviv University and holds an
M.A. in Public Relations from the Newhouse School of Public
Communications at Syracuse University.
|
|
 |
H.E. Radosław Sikorski
Foreign Minister of Poland
SESSION
Ministers Forum
Advocacy in Action Dinner
Radosław Sikorski was sworn in as Minister of Foreign Affairs in
2007. Her previously served as Minister of National Defense.
Earlier, he headed the students’ strike committee during the unrest
in Bydgoszcz, Poland in March 1981 and was granted political asylum
in Great Britain in 1982-89. He was named, in 2012, one of the Top
100 Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine, for “telling the
truth, even when it’s not diplomatic.” He is the author of several
books, including Dust of the Saints, The Polish
House: An Intimate History of Poland.
|
|
 |
H.E. György Szapáry
Ambassador of Hungary to the United States
SESSION
Advocacy in Action Dinner
Ambassador Szapáry became Hungary’s Ambassador to the U.S. in
January 2011, after having served as the Chief Economic Policy
Advisor to the Prime Minister. He has been involved in the banking
sector in Hungary for much of his career, including almost 30 years
working at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, where his
last position was Senior Resident Representative of Hungary.
Ambassador Szapáry has also served as the Deputy Governor of the
National Bank of Hungary and an advisor to the President of the
National Bank of Hungary, and has taught at the Central European
University in Budapest.
|
|
 |
H.E. Carlos Urrutia
Ambassador of Colombia to the United States
SESSION
Advocacy in Action Dinner
Ambassador Carlos Urrutia was named Colombia’s Ambassador to the
U.S. in September 2012, after serving as Managing Partner of Brigard
& Urrutia, one of the largest Colombian law firms, where his
practice focused on commercial law, energy projects, and
international financial transactions. Ambassador Urrutia began his
work in the public sector in 1975, when he became the Secretary
General of the Governorship of the Department of Cundinamarca, and
later, Secretary of Finance. He has also sat on numerous boards of
directors of Colombian corporations and non-profit organizations and
is an associate member of the American Bar Association and
International Bar Association.
|
|
 |
H.E. Mauro Vieira
Ambassador of Brazil to the United States
SESSION
Advocacy in Action Dinner
Ambassador Vieira was named Ambassador to the U.S. in January 2010.
He previously served as Coordinator for International Treaties and
Advisor to the Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry, among
other positions. Ambassador Vieira has worked in other government
agencies, including the Ministry of Social Security and Assistance
and the Ministry of Science and Technology. He has served in
Brazilian embassies around the world, including Washington, and is
the recipient of numerous awards.
|
|
 |
H.E. Adrian Cosmin Vieriţa
Ambassador of Romania to the United States
SESSION
AJC Face-to-Face Advocacy Visit
H.E. Adrian Cosmin Vierita
Ambassador Vierita became Romania’s Ambassador to the U.S. in
January 2008, after serving as the State Secretary for European
Affairs in the Romanian Foreign Ministry. Prior to that posting, he
was Romania’s Ambassador to Germany. Ambassador Vierita has been a
member of Romania’s Diplomatic Corps since 1991, and he has held
other senior Ministry positions, serving as the General Director for
European and Transatlantic Affairs, and the Director of Central and
South-East Europe Directorate, among other postings. He is the
recipient of numerous awards from both Germany and Romania.
|
|
 |
H.E. Sir Peter Westmacott
Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the United States
SESSION
AJC Face-to-Face Advocacy Visit
Ambassador Westmacott became Britain’s Ambassador to the U.S. in
January 2012 after serving as Ambassador to France and Ambassador to
Turkey. He has held other diplomatic postings in Washington, Iran,
and Belgium, and has also served as the Deputy Private Secretary to
His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales and as the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office’s Director of the Americas. Ambassador
Westmacott is a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St.
George and a Lieutenant of the Victorian Order.
|
|
 |
Reverend Jim Winkler
General Secretary of the General Board of Church & Society (GBCS),
The United Methodist Church
SESSIONS
AJC Face-to-Face Advocacy Visit
Jim Winkler has served for four years as the General Secretary of
the General Board of Church & Society (GBCS), the international
public policy and social justice agency of The United Methodist
Church. As the chief executive of the board, Winkler heads up a
staff of 26 who seek the implementation of the Church's Social
Principles through Capitol Hill advocacy work, education, and
communications. The board carries out a wide-ranging ministry of
peace and justice throughout the world with offices in Washington,
D.C. and New York City.
|
|
 |
R. James Woolsey
Director of Central Intelligence (1993-95)
SESSION
AJC University
R. James Woolsey is Chairman of Woolsey Partners LLC and a Venture
Partner with Lux Capital Management. Mr. Woolsey previously served
in the U.S. Government on five different occasions, where he held
Presidential appointments in two Republican and two Democratic
administrations, most recently (1993-95) as Director of Central
Intelligence. During his 12 years of government service, in addition
to heading the CIA and the Intelligence Community, Mr. Woolsey was:
Ambassador to the Negotiation on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe
(CFE), Vienna, 1989–1991; Under Secretary of the Navy, 1977–1979;
and General Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services,
1970–1973. Mr. Woolsey was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He received his
B.A. degree from Stanford University (1963, With Great Distinction,
Phi Beta Kappa), an M.A. from Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar
1963–1965), and an LL.B from Yale Law School (1968, Managing Editor
of the Yale Law Journal).
|
|
 |
Dalia Ziada
Executive Director, Ibn Khaldun Center for Development
SESSION
Plenary: Arab Spring or Arab Winter: Confronting the Rise of
Political Islam
Dalia Ziada is an award-winning Egyptian liberal human rights
activist, socio-political analyst, public speaker, and serves as
Executive Director of the Cairo-based Ibn Khaldun Center for
Development Studies, which advocates for human rights and civil
freedoms in Egypt and the Arab World. She was named by Newsweek for two years in a row (2011-2012) as one of
world’s most influential and fearless women, by CNN as one of the
Arab World’s eight agents of change (2012), and by the Daily
Beast as one of world’s seventeen bravest bloggers (2011).
|
