PUBLIC DIPLOMACY COUNCIL OF AMERICA LAUNCHED
For more than three decades both the Public Diplomacy Council (PDC) and Public Diplomacy Association of America (PDAA), have fostered greater understanding of the United States’ communication with the rest of the world, and promoted more active participation by the American public.The PDCA will continue these efforts through combined programs such an annual award for outstanding public diplomacy initiatives at the U.S. State Department, sponsoring lectures and discussions, and through mentoring and teaching activities. The organization will continue the Hans “Tom” Tuch Fellowship for a graduate student at American University. The PDCA will also promote public diplomacy among members of Congress and the general public.
All active members of the PDC, an organization that originally formed to advance public diplomacy as a profession, and PDAA, an organization originally composed of alumni of the U.S. Information Agency, are charter members of the PDCA, will work together to carry on existing programs and activities and create new ones.
The new organization’s membership combines some 400 active and retired professionals with people who aspire to careers in the field. Its members come from foreign affairs agencies, academe, defense, media, nonprofits, and private enterprise.
Dr. Sherry Mueller, a scholar-practitioner at American University, and Joel Fischman, a retired Foreign Service Officer, are co-presidents.