Former US ambassadors to participate in Georgia Southern’s Norman Fries Distinguished Lectureship series

Members of the American Academy of Diplomacy will discuss global challenges and their connections to Georgia and the Southeast during a panel discussion Feb. 24 at 2:30 p.m in the Performing Arts Center on the Statesboro campus. The event is open to the public and co-hosted by Georgia Southern University’s Honors College and the Office of Research and Economic Development as part of the annual Norman Fries Distinguished Lectureship series.

“At a time when geopolitical tensions are ever-more present in the news, we are so very honored to host these distinguished ambassadors to help all of us better understand current events and how effective diplomacy can positively position the United States for an even brighter future,” said David Weindorf, Ph.D., Georgia Southern’s vice president for Research and Economic Development.

The featured speakers, Ambassador (ret.) Philip T. Reeker, Ambassador (ret.) Kathleen Stephens, President, American Academy of Diplomacy Ronald E. Neumann, and Ambassador (ret) Deborah A. McCarthy will provide insights through their thematic expertise and personal stories from their time as ambassadors.

Ambassador (ret.) Ronald Neumann served as the United States ambassador to Algeria, Bahrain and Afghanistan. A former Army infantryman who saw action in Vietnam, Neumann’s time abroad as a Senior Foreign Service member inspired his work The Other War: Winning and Losing in Afghanistan, as well as his memoir, Three Embassies, Four Wars: A Personal Memoir. 

Ambassador (ret.) Deborah McCarthy is an expert on U.S. foreign and national security policy, representing the United States on the world stage in senior diplomatic roles in Greece, Lithuania and Nicaragua. She continues to serve the nation as the U.S. Lead Negotiator to the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee on Cybercrime for the Department of State.

Ambassador (ret.) Kathleen Stephens is the President and CEO of the Korea Economic Institute of America, inspired by her time as U.S. ambassador to Korea. Her career has taken her across the world, serving in various roles in China, former Yugoslavia, Portugal and Northern Ireland. She is currently board chair of The Korea Society, a Mansfield Foundation Distinguished Fellow, Pacific Century Institute board chair, and vice chair of the board of trustees for The Asia Foundation.

Ambassador (ret.) Philip T. Reeker was the U.S. ambassador to North Macedonia, as well as Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs and Chargé d’Affaires in London. He is the Chair of the Wilson Center’s Global Europe Program and Partner and Lead of the Europe & Eurasia practice at Albright Stonebridge Group.

The event will allow attendees to engage directly with career diplomats who have served under both Republican and Democratic administrations and who will share the practical skills they use and how their work serves the American people. 

“This event promises to be a unique opportunity to learn directly from four individuals who have served the nation at the highest level in locations around the world,” said Honors College Dean Steven Engel, Ph.D. “Their experiences and insights will shed light on the role of the United States on the world stage as well as the challenges of our contemporary moment.”

The Norman Fries Distinguished Lectureship series began in 2001 and is funded by an endowment in honor of Norman Fries, founder of Claxton Poultry. In his more than 50 years of business, Fries built the company from a one-man operation into one of the largest poultry production plants in the U.S. Past Fries lecturers include David Oreck of Oreck Vacuums, South African apartheid author and lecturer Mark Mathabane, NASA director James W. Kennedy, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Gordon S. Wood, Nobel Prize laureate William D. Phillips, Ph.D., bestselling author Susan Orlean, concussion expert Dr. Russell Gore, and PricewaterhouseCoopers Network chief operating officer Carol Sawdye. For more information, visit GeorgiaSouthern.edu/Fries.