About
About the Diplomacy Center Foundation
The Diplomacy Center Foundation, a 501(c)(3) private non-profit, is the partner to the United States (US) Department of State in building the National Museum of American Diplomacy (NMAD). Housed at the US Department of State, NMAD will be the first museum in the nation dedicated to the history, practice, and challenges of American diplomacy. The Foundation supports the funding of the Museum through the generous contributions of individuals, foundations, and corporations. With this support, the Foundation seeks to share the stories of American diplomacy, honor the contributions of American diplomats, and preserve the legacy of American diplomacy for generations to come.
As of September 2018, the Diplomacy Center Foundation concluded Phase I of its capital campaign. The Foundation raised over $50 million in private-sector contributions and pledges for the design and construction of the 21,000 square foot entrance pavilion at the US Department of State. The Foundation is currently in phase II of its capital campaign to raise $35 million for the design, fabrication, and installation of exhibits and reconfigure an additional 20,000 square feet of space within the main State Department building.
About the National Museum of American Diplomacy
The National Museum of American Diplomacy tells the story of the history, practice, and challenges of American diplomacy. Through exhibitions and programs, NMAD inspires the public to discover diplomacy and how it impacts their lives every day. For the first time, visitors will have a unique experience at the only museum in the United States dedicated to the subject of diplomacy. No other museum brings diplomatic history to the forefront in its exhibits; no other institution is dedicated solely to collecting the artifacts of diplomacy.
A Public-Private Partnership
The support needed to make the vision of NMAD a reality is based on a public-private partnership. The US Department of State, representing the public sector, is providing the space, staff, and security for NMAD. The Diplomacy Center Foundation represents the private sector and is raising the funds to build and complete the Museum.
The US Department of State is committed to providing the following elements of public-sector support:
- the land and maintenance for the Museum, the glass entrance Pavilion, two interior exhibition halls within the Harry S Truman Building, and NMAD staff;
- security staff and equipment for the museum and education center; and
- public access to and inclusion of the historic lobby that connects the pavilion with the interior exhibition halls and the glass entrance pavilion.
The Diplomacy Center Foundation is committed to providing the following elements with private-sector support:
- the design and construction of the pavilion and renovation of the two interior halls within the Harry S Truman Building;
- the design, fabrication, and installation of exhibits in the three halls and mezzanine;
- educational programs, special programs, conferences, and forums;
- additional museum expenses, including staffing; and
- an endowment and campaign expenses
Our History
Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations - Thomas Jefferson
The first US secretary of state cited these basic objectives in 1801 during his inaugural address as the third President of the United States. This vision guided Thomas Jefferson as he pursued effective diplomacy in the American national interest.
Two hundred years later, two statesmen recognized the need to build a museum that demonstrates the importance of American diplomacy in the history of the United States. Ambassador Stephen Low (1927 - 2010) and Senator Charles McC. Mathias of Maryland (1922 - 2010) founded the Foreign Affairs Museum Council (FAMC), a nonprofit organization, to help build the first museum dedicated to American diplomacy by raising funds from the private sector. In 2013, the FAMC Board of Directors changed its name to Diplomacy Center Foundation.
In 1999, Ambassador Low and Senator Mathias met with Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright about their vision for an American diplomacy museum and education center. Secretary Albright recognized this need and agreed the museum should be located at the Department of State. Assistant Secretary, later undersecretary, Patrick F. Kennedy identified 20,000 square feet of interior space that would become the US Diplomacy Center. An office and staff were established that included Priscilla R. Linn, DPhil, as senior curator.
Beyer Blinder Belle Architects was competitively awarded the project to design the new 20,000 square foot entrance pavilion located at the 21st Street entrance of the Department of State. The pavilion will house hall I, which includes the "Discover Diplomacy" exhibit about the practice of diplomacy today and the Founding Ambassadors Concourse. The Concourse will host the Museum's educational conferences, symposiums, events, and public programs. The Museum will extend into two renovated interior halls that cover 230 years of American diplomacy history and allow visitors to practice the art of diplomacy through historical and hypothetical scenarios and dynamic decision-based exhibits. There will also be a mezzanine space in the Historic Lobby connecting the pavilion and two interior halls.
In 2010, Secretary Hillary R. Clinton appointed Ambassador Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, former US ambassador to Portugal, to lead fundraising efforts for the project. That same year, Ambassador William C. Harrop, a career senior Foreign Service officer who served as ambassador to five countries, assumed the leadership of the Diplomacy Center Foundation.
On September 3, 2014, the groundbreaking for the United States Diplomacy Center took place with the participation of Secretaries of State Kissinger, Baker, Albright, Powell, Clinton, and Kerry. Construction of the pavilion was completed in January 2017. The Diplomacy Center Foundation continues to seek private sector funds to complete the new facility. The State Department and the Diplomacy Center Foundation are sincerely grateful to all the donors whose support is making this significant institution possible.
In November 2019, US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, with the consent of the US Congress, renamed the US Diplomacy Center to the National Museum of American Diplomacy (NMAD) at the Foundation's annual Excellence in Diplomacy award dinner. In 2020, the Diplomacy Center Foundation welcomed Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering as chairman. Ambassador Pickering is a career ambassador and Foreign Service Officer who served as the US ambassador to seven countries.
The Foundation is currently in phase II of its capital campaign to raise $35 million for the design, fabrication, and installation of exhibits and reconfiguration of an additional 20,000 square feet of space within the main State Department building. To date, $53 million of private sector funds have been raised from corporations, foundations, and individuals toward the $85 million needed to build the museum.
Nonprofit Organization Information:
- 501(c)(3) Status
- February 18, 2000: Incorporated in District of Columbia as the Foreign Affairs Museum Council
- May 18, 2000: Advanced ruling of 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status
- July 28, 2005: Classified as a 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) Public Charity
- September 2013: Changed name from Foreign Affairs Museum Council to Diplomacy Center Foundation
Our Leadership
Honorary Directors
James A. Baker, III
Honorary Co-Chair
61st US Secretary of State,
1989-1992
Hillary R. Clinton
Honorary Co-Chair
67th US Secretary of State,
2009-2013
John Kerry
68th US Secretary of State,
2013-2017
Condoleezza Rice
66th US Secretary of State,
2005-2009
Board Directors
Thomas R. Pickering
- Chairman, American Academy of Diplomacy
- Former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
- Former Ambassador to Russia, India, the United Nations, Israel, El Salvador, Nigeria, and Jordan
James T. L. Dandridge, II
- President, Governors/Trustees, Diplomatic and Consular Officers Foundation
- Former Board Chairman, Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training
- Director, Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs
- Senior Foreign Service Officer (ret.)
Stuart A. Bernstein
- Chairman Emeritus, Bernstein Companies
- Trustee Emeritus, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
- Former Ambassador to Denmark
Ruth A. Davis
- Former Director General of the US Foreign Service
- Former Director of the Foreign Service Institute
- Principal Deputy Director Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs
- Former Ambassador to Benin
Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel
- Chair, Historic Landmarks Preservation Center
- Chair, NYC Landmarks 60
- Chair/ CEO, Diamondstein-Spielvogel Foundation
- Fmr. Chair, New York State Council on the Arts
- Fmr. Commissioner, American Battle Monuments Commission
- Fmr. Vice Chair, US Commission of Fine Arts
- Fmr. Commissioner, NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
- Fmr. Director, NYC Cultural Affairs Department
Vlad C. Enache
- Market Maker, Accenture Google Business Group
- Chairman/Founder, Aspen Promise philanthropic platform
- Co-Founder and CEO Emeritus of technology consulting startup, UpperRanchCo
- Founder of Magaskawee Startup Incubator
Chuck Hagel
- 24th US Secretary of Defense
- Chair, Presidents Intelligence Advisory Board
- Chair, Intelligence Oversight Board
- US Senator from Nebraska
William C. Harrop
- Former Inspector General, US Department of State
- Former Ambassador to Guinea, Kenya, Seychelles, Zaire, and Israel
Brenda LaGrange Johnson
- Board Member, Rose Town Foundation
- Trustee, George H. W. Bush Presidential Library
- Member, Women’s Initiative Council, George W. Bush Presidential Library
- Former Partner of BrenMer Industries
- Former Ambassador to Jamaica
- Founding Board Member, Council of American Ambassadors
Thomas E. McNamara
- Adjunct Professor, George Washington University
- Former Assistant Secretary of State
- Former Special Assistant to the President
- Former Ambassador to Colombia
- Former Director of Counter-terrorism and Counter-narcotics, National Security Council
Michele A. Manatt
- President, James Renwick Alliance
- Former Chair, Council on Women’s Leadership, Meridian International Center
- Former Senior Policy Advisor at the State Department, William J. Clinton Administration
Jim Moran
- Professor of Practice, School of Public and International Affairs, Virginia Tech
- Former US Representative to Virginia’s 8th Congressional District
- Former Mayor of Alexandria, Virginia
Roman Popadiuk
- Former Executive Director, George H. W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation
- Former Ambassador to Ukraine
Thomas Yazdgerdi
- President, American Foreign Service Association
- Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues, European and Eurasian Bureau
- Director, Office of South Central European Affairs
- Political Counselor, U.S. Embassy Kabul,
- Head of U.S. Consulate Kirkuk
- Deputy Political Counselor for Iran Affairs, U.S. Embassy Baghdad
- Deputy Chief of Mission and Political-Economic Chief, U.S. Embassy Pristina
Francis X. Taylor
- Under Secretary of Homeland Security, Intelligence and Analysis
- Member, Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board
John Welch
- Former Chief Legal Officer and Executive Vice President, DMI
- Former Managing Director, Greysteel
- Former Partner, Jones Day
Officers
Roman Popadiuk
- Former Executive Director, George H. W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation
- Former Ambassador to Ukraine
Robert C. Heath
- Trustee, American Councils for International Education
- Executive Director, Public Diplomacy Council
- Foreign Service Officer (ret.)
Francis X. Taylor
- Under Secretary of Homeland Security, Intelligence and Analysis
- Member, Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board
Brenda LaGrange Johnson
- Partner of BrenMer Industries
- Former Ambassador to Jamaica
Trustees
S. Daniel Abraham
- Founder, S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace
- Philanthropist in the fields of public health and education
Nina N. Ansary
- President, Ansary Foundation
- Vice Chairman, Parman Capital Group
- Director, Stewart & Stevenson, LLC.
Elizabeth Frawley Bagley
- Former Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State
- Former Ambassador to Portugal
R. Nicholas Burns
- Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations, Harvard Kennedy School
- Former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
- Former Ambassador to NATO
Anthony R. Chase
- Associate Professor of Law, University of Houston Law Center
- Chair & CEO, ChaseSource, LP
- Director, Anadarco
Frances D. Cook
- Chairman, Lonrho
- Former Ambassador to Burundi, Cameroon, and Oman
Sally Grooms Cowal
- Senior Vice President for Global Health, American Cancer Society
- Former Senior Vice President, Population Services International
- Former Ambassador to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
William C. Eacho, III
- Visiting Professor of Practice, Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University
- Co-Founder & Chairman, Partnership for Responsible Growth
- Former Ambassador to Austria
Robert L. Gallucci
- Former President, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
- Former Dean, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University
- Former Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs
- Former Ambassador at Large
Bruce S. Gelb
- Former President, Council of American Ambassadors
- Former Director, US Information Agency
- Former Ambassador to Belgium
Joseph B. Gildenhorn
- Co-Founder, The JBG Companies
- Former Chairman of the Board, The Wilson Center
- Former U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland
- Vice Chair and Treasurer, Council of American Ambassadors
Lee H. Hamilton
- Director, Center on Congress, Indiana University
- Former President and Director, The Wilson Center
- Former Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and House Intelligence Committee
- Former Member of the US House of Representatives for Indiana’s 9th District
Susan R. Johnson
- President, Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training
- Former President, American Foreign Service Association
- Senior Foreign Service Officer (ret.)
Ellen Laipson
- Director, International Security Program and Center for Security and Policy Studies, George Mason University
- Former President and CEO, Stimson Center
- Former Vice Chair, National Intelligence Council
- Former Special Assistant, US Permanent Representative to the United Nations
- Former Director, Near East and South Asian Affairs, National Security Council
John D. Negroponte
- Vice Chair, McLarty Associates
- Former Deputy Secretary of State
- First Director of National Intelligence
- Former Ambassador to Iraq, the United Nations, the Philippines, Mexico, and Honduras
- Chairman Emeritus, Americas Society/Council of the Americas
- Former Deputy National Security Advisor under President Ronald Reagan
Mary M. Ourisman
- Trustee Emeritus, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
- Former Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean
Stephen P. Randolph
- Former Historian, Department of State
- Former Associate Dean, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University
- Colonel, US Air Force (ret.)
Pete Wilson
- Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Herbert Hoover Institution
- Former Governor of California
- Former US Senator from California
- Former Mayor of San Diego
Robin B. Wright
- Joint Fellow, US Institute of Peace, Woodrow Wilson International Center
- Foreign Correspondent
- Writer/Author on international affairs
Directors Emeritus
Keith L. Brown ‡
Frank C. Carlucci ‡
- Former US Secretary of Defense
- Former National Security Advisor
- Former Deputy Secretary of Defense
- Former Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
- Former Ambassador to Portugal
- Former Director to the Office of Economic Opportunity
Herbert J. Hansell ‡
- Legal Adviser, Department of State
Arthur A. Hartman ‡
- Former Ambassador to France and the Soviet Union
- Former Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs
Edward J. Perkins ‡
- Career Minister
- Former Ambassador to Liberia, South Africa, and the United Nations
- Director General of the Foreign Service
- US Representative to the UN Security Council
Paul S. Sarbanes ‡
- Former Chair of the Senate Banking Committee
- Former US Senator from Maryland
- Former Member of the US House of Representatives from Maryland’s 3rd and 4th Districts
Richard Solomon ‡
- Senior Fellow, RAND Corporation
- Former President, United States Institute of Peace
- Former Ambassador to the Philippines
- Former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Terence A. Todman ‡
- Former Ambassador to Chad, Guinea, Costa Rica, Spain, Denmark, Argentina
Image Courtesy of the American Foreign Service Association
Founders
Stephen Low ‡
- Former President, Foreign Affairs Museum Council
- Former Director, Foreign Service Institute
- Former Director, Johns Hopkins University Bologna Center
- Former Ambassador to Zambia and Nigeria
Charles McC. Mathias ‡
- Former Chairman, Foreign Affairs Museum Council
- Former US Senator from Maryland
Staff
Roman Popadiuk
- Former Executive Director, George H. W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation
- Former Ambassador to Ukraine
Robert C. Heath
- Trustee, American Councils for International Education
- Executive Director, Public Diplomacy Council
- Foreign Service Officer (ret.)
