secretary Thomas Pickering
Former U.S. ambassador, diplomat
Ambassador Pickering served as U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from May of 1997 until late 2000. Prior to that, he served briefly as the president of the Eurasia Foundation, a Washington-based organization that makes small grants and loans in the states of the former Soviet Union. Pickering holds the personal rank of Career Ambassador, the highest in the U.S. Foreign Service. From 1989 to 1992, he served as Ambassador and Representative to the United Nations in New York. He also served as Executive Secretary of the Department of State and Special Assistant to Secretaries William P. Rogers and Henry A. Kissinger from 1973 to 1974. (1)
Pickering currently serves as Senior Advisor at Hills and Company. From 2001 to 2006, Ambassador Pickering served as Senior Vice President for International Relations and as a member of the Executive Council of The Boeing Company. (1)
In 1983 and in 1986, Pickering won the Distinguished Presidential Award and, in 1996, the Department of State’s highest award – the Distinguished Service Award. He is a member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies and the Council on Foreign Relations. (1)
Pickering spoke at The Common Good in 2013: National Security Briefing with Thomas Pickering – May 8, 2013.
(1) Material from the National Committee on American Foreign Policy website.
