Retired diplomat to speak at Baker Institute on George H.W. Bush’s leadership

CONTACT: Franz Brotzen
PHONE: 713-348-6775
E-MAIL: franz.brotzen@rice.edu

Retired diplomat to speak at Baker Institute on George H.W. Bush’s leadership

Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Roman Popadiuk will speak on “The Leadership of George Bush” at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy Jan. 27.

Popadiuk, a career foreign service officer, served as deputy assistant to the president and deputy press secretary for foreign affairs under President George Herbert Walker Bush. He served as the first U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine in 1992-1993. Popadiuk is currently the executive director of the George Bush Presidential Library Foundation in College Station, Texas.

In his presentation, Popadiuk will examine the ways in which Bush’s personal leadership style influenced the formation and execution of policy during his presidency. He will bring together a mosaic of events, quotations and observations that yield a broad view of the ways in which a president’s personal qualities and philosophies impinge upon leadership options.

During the Bush presidency, Popadiuk was closely involved with many of the day-to-day decisions of the administration during a momentous period that saw the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, the rise of a new global coalition, the first Gulf War and shifting domestic, economic and political currents.

The Austrian-born Popadiuk graduated from Hunter College with a bachelor’s degree in 1973 and received a Ph.D. in 1980 from City University of New York.

He began his foreign-service career in 1981. From 1982 to 1984 he served in Mexico City, where he did consular and political work and was special assistant to the ambassador. From 1984 to 1986 he had a tour with the Department of State and the National Security Council. Popadiuk was awarded the U.S. Department of State’s Meritorious Honor Award in 1987 and the Superior Honor Award in 1992.

Popadiuk’s talk will begin at 6 p.m. in Baker Hall’s Kelly International Conference Facility on the Rice University campus, 6100 Main St. For directions, go to http://www.rice.edu/maps/maps.html.

Popadiuk will also sign copies of his recent book, “The Leadership of George Bush: An Insider’s View of the Forty-First President,” after the lecture.

Members of the news media who want to attend should RSVP to Franz Brotzen at franz.brotzen@rice.edu or 713-348-6775.