The panelists will be available to discuss the theme for this year’s event, ‘Global citizenship.’
WHAT: As part of the event, Texas Tech University's International Affairs Office and The American Academy of Diplomacy (AAD) will provide a brief scheduled time for media interviews to preview the 8th Annual Ambassadors' Forum. The theme for this year's event is “The Global Citizen and Diplomacy.”
Media are encouraged to contact the Office of Communications & Marketing and indicate the ambassador(s) they would like to interview. The office asks that media come prepared with questions to ask the ambassadors.
WHEN: 10:30 a.m. Thursday (March 2)
WHERE: Room 105, International Cultural Center, 601 Indiana Ave.
EVENT: The Ambassador's Forum will analyze the concept of a “global citizen” by examining nationalism vs. globalism, climate change and media and the state from three different perspectives.
Panelists are:
- Tibor P. Nagy is the former vice provost for International Affairs at Texas Tech from 2003-2018,
who served as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 2018-2021. In
addition to leading the U.S. government's efforts to deal with Africa's myriad systemic
challenges, Ambassador Nagy prioritized dramatically increasing trade and investment
between the U.S. and Africa and implemented “deal teams” in every U.S. embassy to
support this effort.
- Robert O. Blake, Jr. is a Senior Director for McClarty Associates in Washington D.C. He served for 31
years in the State Department in a wide range of positions. He most recently served
as a senior adviser to former Secretary of State John Kerry in his role of Special
Envoy for Climate.
- Pamela Spratlen is a mentor, board member and public speaker who served 30 years in the U.S. Department
of State. She retired as a Senior Foreign Service Officer in 2019. She briefly returned
in 2021 to oversee efforts to address the “Havana Syndrome,” a medical condition that
first emerged among diplomats and government officials in 2016. Spratlen's leadership
experience includes 10 years in central Asia, serving eight as U.S. ambassador.
- Ronald Neumann, formerly a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, served three times as ambassador: to Algeria, Bahrain and finally to Afghanistan from July 2005 to April 2007. Before Afghanistan, Neumann, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, served in Baghdad with the Coalition Provisional Authority and then as Embassy Baghdad's liaison with the Multinational Command, where he was deeply involved in coordinating the political part of military actions.
For more information about the day's events and the ambassadors themselves, visit the International Affairs events page.
CONTACT: Javier Lopez
Media relations coordinator, International Affairs, Texas Tech University
javier.lopez@ttu.edu
(806) 742-3667
