Convo: J. Brian Atwood October 28, 2005

J. Brian Atwood, the dean of the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, will present the annual Governor Harold E. Stassen United Nations convocation, titled ?The United Nations: Is It Worth Reforming?,? at 10:50 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 28, at the Carleton College Skinner Memorial Chapel. The event is free and open to the public.

Atwood's career in foreign policy began in 1966 when he joined the Foreign Service and served in the American embassies in Cote d'Ivoire and Spain. He served as legislative adviser for foreign and defense policy to Senator Thomas F. Eagleton (D-Mo.) from 1972 to 1977. During the Carter administration, he served as assistant secretary of state for congressional relations. He was dean of professional studies and academic affairs at the Foreign Service Institute in 1981-82, and was the first president of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs from 1986 to 1993, building the democratic development institution into a major international force for the promotion of democracy.

During the Clinton administration, Atwood led the transition team at the State Department and was under secretary of state for management before his appointment as head of the U.S. Agency for International Development from 1993 to 1999. He led presidential delegations to Haiti, El Salvador and East Africa, was a special presidential envoy to Eastern Zaire during the exodus of refugees caused by the Rwanda genocide and was the first American official to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Chairman of the Palestinian Authority Yasir Arafat after Arafat's return to Gaza and the West Bank in 1994. He was Clinton's humanitarian relief coordinator during the Kosovo crisis.

In December 1998, Clinton nominated Atwood as ambassador to Brazil. He withdrew his nomination before Senate confirmation in order to create Citizens International, an organization that designs and manages public and private social development investments to meet the needs of developing nations.

Atwood was an adjunct lecturer at Harvard University?s John F. Kennedy School of Government from 1999 to 2001 and was the Sol M. Linowitz Professor for International Affairs at Hamilton College in 2001, when he also served on United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan's panel on peace operations. He was the only American on the 10-member "Brahimi" panel that recommended major changes in the U.N.?s peacekeeping and peace building operations. He also served on the Secretary of Energy's advisory board, the Center for Strategic International Studies/U.S. Army Association Commission to study Post-Conflict Reconstruction and the Council on Foreign Relations task force that wrote the report titled "Iraq: The Day After."

He has received numerous awards for public service, including the Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award and an honorary doctorate from American University in 1995 for his work in promoting human rights and democratic values.

Robert Matteson, a member of Carleton?s class of 1937, a former political science teacher at the College and a long-time friend and colleague of Stassen, envisioned and initiated The Governor Harold E. Stassen United Nations Lecture Series to honor Stassen?s distinguished career. As the U.S. signer of the United Nations Charter, Stassen made furthering the U.N. and its ideals central to his career. Generous support for the Stassen Lecture Series enables Carleton to bring to campus annually outstanding speakers on issues relating to the United Nations and its associated organizations.

For more information and disability accommodations, call the Carleton college relations office at (507) 646-4308.