Professor Nicholas Burns
Sultan of Oman Professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and former United States Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
Nicholas Burns was a speaker at the US Studies Centre National Summit in June 2011.
Burns is Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School. He has received ten honorary doctorates, the Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award, the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service from the Johns Hopkins University and the Boston College Alumni Achievement Award.
Burns served in the United States Foreign Service for twenty-seven years until his retirement in 2008, having served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2005. He was US Ambassador to NATO (2001 to 2005) and to Greece (1997 to 2001) and State Department Spokesman (1995 to 1997). He previously served as Special Assistant to President Bill Clinton and before that as Director for Soviet Affairs in the President George H.W. Bush White House.
