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United States Ambassador to the Republic of Korea to speak at Thunderbird

Kathleen Stephens, United States ambassador to the Republic of Korea, will speak 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15 at Thunderbird School of Global Management. Stephens will present, “Ambassadors' Dialogue: Spotlight on Korea",” to students, faculty and staff. The event will be open to the media and general public.

Stephens was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Aug. 1, 2008 to be ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Korea. She arrived in Korea on Sept. 23, 2008, and presented her credentials to President Lee Myung-bak on Oct. 6, 2008. 

A Foreign Service officer since 1978, Stephens has held numerous senior diplomatic positions in Washington D.C. and abroad. From 2005 to 2007, Stephens was principal deputy assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.  She was deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs from 2003 to 2005, where she focused on post-conflict and stabilization issues in the Balkans.  Other Washington D.C. assignments included director for European Affairs at the National Security Council, senior United Kingdom country officer in the European Bureau, and director of the State Department’s Office of Ecology and Terrestrial Conservation in the Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Scientific Affairs.

Stephens’ overseas postings have included deputy chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Lisbon, Portugal (1998-2001), and U.S. consul general in Belfast, Northern Ireland (1995-1998) during the consolidation of ceasefires and negotiation of the Good Friday Agreement. Earlier foreign assignments included consular and public affairs officer in Guangzhou, China (1980-1982), chief of the internal political unit in Seoul (1984-1987), and principal officer of the U.S. Consulate in Busan, Korea (1987-1989). Stephens was a political officer at the U.S. mission in Yugoslavia during that country’s violent disintegration in the early 1990's. Stephens was a Peace Corps volunteer in Korea from 1975 to 1977.

Members of the media are asked to contact Brian Camen at brian.camen@thunderbird.edu or 602-978-7922 if you are planning to cover the event.