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Visiting policy practitioners

Mark Pekala

Visiting Policy Practitioner, Weiser Diplomacy Center

Ambassador Mark Pekala (BA Political Science '81) has served as Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) in Paris, DCM in Tallinn, Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) in the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, and Senior Director for Russian Affairs on the National Security Council staff. From 1998 to 1999, Ambassador Pekala was a Rusk Fellow at Georgetown University, teaching graduate seminars on U.S.-Russian relations and European security. Ambassador Pekala has received nine State Department Superior Honor Awards, seven Senior Performance Awards, two Meritorious Honor Awards, the W. Averell Harriman Award, and the Matilda W. Sinclaire Language Award. From the Government of Estonia, he received the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, Third Class, and he received Latvia’s highest state decoration, the Order of the Three Stars.

Educational background

  • BA Political Science '81, University of Michigan

Professional affiliations

  • Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) in Paris, DCM in Tallinn
  • Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) in the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs
  • Senior Director for Russian Affairs on the National Security Council staff
  • Rusk Fellow at Georgetown University