Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering (left) and Mr. James T. L. Dandridge, II (right).
The Diplomacy Center Foundation (DCF) Board of Directors welcomed Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering and Mr. James (Jim) T. L. Dandridge, II, as the Board’s new chair and vice-chair, respectively. Ambassador William C. Harrop (ret.) stepped down from his role as chairman of the Board, which he held since 2010. He remains a member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors.
Ambassador Pickering is a career ambassador who previously served as US ambassador to Russia, India, Israel, El Salvador, Nigeria, and Jordan. At the US Department of State, he was also the under secretary for political affairs, US representative to the United Nations, assistant secretary of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, and executive secretary. Ambassador Pickering joined the Foundation’s Board of Directors in 2001 and has served as the Board’s vice-chair since 2015.
Jim Dandridge joined the Foreign Service after retiring in 1978 from the US Army as a special operations branch chief in the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dandridge retired from the Foreign Service as a senior foreign service officer, with a personal rank of minister counselor. His final diplomatic assignments were director of the Office of Policy Guidance in the United States Information Agency and an assignment to the State Department as a senior advisor to the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. Dandridge has been a Board Director since 2011.
The Diplomacy Center Foundation welcomes the opportunity to work with Amb. Pickering and Mr. Dandridge during phase II of the capital campaign. Their “dynamism, outreach efforts, and dedicated service to the National Museum of American Diplomacy (NMAD) will be instrumental in guiding the Foundation through phase II of the capital campaign to finish the Museum,” says Ambassador Roman Popadiuk, president of the Diplomacy Center Foundation.
The Foundation also wishes to extend its deepest thanks and appreciation to Ambassador Harrop, who has served on the Board since 2007. Amb. Popadiuk praises “Ambassador Harrop’s exceptional leadership over the years to successfully steer the Foundation through phase I of the capital campaign. Under his chairmanship, we marked several important milestones, including the opening of the NMAD’s entrance pavilion in 2017. His vision, dedication, and generous support of the museum are greatly appreciated. We are all glad that he will continue to serve on the board and stay engaged with the Foundation and Museum.”