Richard C. Holbrooke is Vice Chairman of Perseus, a leading private equity firm. He most recently served as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, where he was also a member of President Clinton’s cabinet (1999-2001). As Assistant Secretary of State for Europe (1994-1996), he was the chief architect of the 1995 Dayton peace agreement that ended the war in Bosnia. He later served as President Clinton’s Special Envoy to Bosnia and Kosovo and Special Envoy to Cyprus on a pro-bono basis while a private citizen. From 1993-1994, he was the US. Ambassador to Germany.

During the Carter Administration (1977-1981), he served as the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and was in charge of U.S. relations with China at the time Sino-American relations were normalized in December, 1978.

After joining the Foreign Service in 1962, he served in Vietnam (1963-66), including a tour of duty in the Mekong Delta for AID. He worked on Vietnam at the Johnson White House (1966-68), wrote one volume of the Pentagon Papers, and was a member of the American delegation to the Vietnam Peace Talks in Paris (1968-69).

He was Peace Corps Director in Morocco (1970-72), Managing Editor of Foreign Policy (1972-77), and held senior positions at two leading Wall Street firms, Credit Suisse First Boston (Vice Chairman) and Lehman Brothers (Managing Director). He has written numerous articles and two best-selling books: To End a War, a memoir of the Dayton negotiations, and co-author of Counsel to the President, Clark Clifford’s memoir. He writes a monthly column for The Washington Post.

He has received over twenty honorary degrees and numerous awards, including several Nobel Peace Prize nominations. He is the Founding Chairman of the American Academy in Berlin, a center for U.S.-German cultural exchange; President and CEO of the Global Business Coalition, the business alliance against HIV/AIDS; and Chairman of the Asia Society. He is on the Board of American International Group. NGO board memberships include the American Museum of Natural History, the National Endowment for Democracy, the Citizens Committee for New York City, the Council on Foreign Relations, and Refugees International. He is Director Emeritus of The Africa-America Institute, on the Advisory Boards of MEMRI and USA for UNHCR , is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the US Board of Governors of Interpeace, and Professor-at-Large, Brown University.

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