In a diplomatic career spanning five decades, Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering has been at the forefront of global affairs. On Thursday, February 5, he will offer his perspective on recent and current global issues, and foreign policy challenges facing the U.S. today. He will also discuss diplomatic opportunities and offer prospects for U.S. actions.
Currently Vice Chairman at Hills and Company, which provides advice and counsel to a number of major U.S. enterprises, Ambassador Pickering retired as Senior Vice President of International Relations and a member of the Executive Council of The Boeing Company in 2006, a position he held for over five years. He was responsible for The Boeing Company's relations with foreign governments and the company's globalization.
Ambassador Pickering joined Boeing in January 2001, upon his retirement as U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, where he had served since May 1997. Ambassador Pickering holds the personal rank of Career Ambassador, the highest in the U.S. Foreign Service. In a diplomatic career spanning five decades, he was U.S. ambassador to the Russian Federation, India, Israel, El Salvador, Nigeria, and Jordan, and also served on assignments in Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
From 1989 to 1992, he was 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.
In 2012, Ambassador Pickering chaired the Benghazi Accountability Review Board at the request of Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton which made recommendations on improving security stemming from the attack on the U.S. Mission at Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012 and the loss of the lives of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
Ambassador Pickering received a bachelor's degree in history from Bowdoin College in 1953 and a master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in 1954. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to the University of Melbourne in Australia, and received a second master's degree in 1956. In 1984, he was awarded an honorary doctor-in-laws degree from Bowdoin College, and has received similar honors from 12 other universities.
The recipient of numerous awards and honors, Ambassador Pickering received the Distinguished Presidential Award in 1983 and 1986, and the Department of State’s highest award – the Distinguished Service Award – in 1996. Recognized for his extraordinary leadership in building government partnerships and fostering collaboration between researchers, diplomats, and others to bring global attention to issues like nuclear affairs, oceans and fisheries management, and environmental stewardship, Ambassador Pickering was honored in 2008 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science for “his commitment to advancing the application of science and technology for diplomacy.” He is a member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies and the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on a number of committees and boards that bring science and technology together with foreign policy interests.