On Monday, January 29, former U.S. Ambassadors Tibor Nagy and Geeta Pasi shared what led them to the State Department and their experiences as diplomats during a talk at the Bone Student Center. What motivates someone to join the Foreign Service and what it is like to be a Foreign Service Officer were two of the topics the speakers addressed. They responded to questions from the audience about the challenges and opportunities a career in the Foreign Service offers, including security and the impact on families.
Ambassador Tibor Nagy (retired) was most recently U.S. assistant secretary of state for Africa. Prior to that he served as vice provost for international affairs at Texas Tech University. His career included eight African postings where he served as U.S. ambassador twice (Ethiopia and Guinea), and deputy ambassador four times (Seychelles, Togo, Cameroon, and Nigeria). He is a professor emeritus at Texas Tech.
Ambassador Geeta Pasi (retired) is the inaugural Donald F. McHenry Visiting Professor in Diplomacy and International Affairs at Illinois State University. Before retiring from the Foreign Service, she most recently served as the U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia until 2022. She earlier served as U.S. ambassador to Chad (2016-2018) and Djibouti (2011-2014) as well as principal deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of African Affairs. Previous overseas postings include Cameroon, Romania, Germany, Bangladesh, Ghana, and India, where she focused on human rights, democracy, and humanitarian assistance.
