Obituaries - February 2026
Edwin “Ed” Feulner, who chaired the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy from 1982 to 1991, died July 18, 2025, at age 83. After earning an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and a Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Edinburgh, Feulner began a 60-year career of advancing conservative causes by working at the Center for Strategic Studies and at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. In 1973 he co-founded The Heritage Foundation, a conservative public policy think tank. He later became its president in 1977, serving in that capacity for 36 years until 2013. Under his leadership, which emphasized creating timely and concise policy studies that were aimed at Congress, the media, and other policy makers, The Heritage Foundation was transformed into an influential powerhouse of conservative thought. Feulner was also a consultant on domestic policy to President Reagan and an advisor to several government departments and agencies.Bruce Gelb, who was director of the U.S. Information Agency from 1989 to 1991 under President George H.W. Bush, died November 17, 2025, at his home in Naples, FL. He was 98. Gelb served in the U.S. Nay from 1945 to 1946 before earning a B.A. from Yale University in 1950 and an MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1953. In his private sector career Gelb was president of Clairol and vice chairman of Bristol-Myers Squibb. In 1991 he was appointed Ambassador to Belgium, a post he held until 1993, and one where he took an active interest in public outreach, educational exchange, and cultural diplomacy. Gelb served on numerous boards, including the advisory board of the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. See Also Sherry Mueller's remembrance of Ambassador Gelb.
Gail Gulliksen, a Senior Foreign Service officer with USIA, died at home December 21, 2025, from lung cancer. Over a nearly 40-year career that took her to five continents, including serving as Public Affairs Officer in Ottawa, she dealt with the public diplomacy dimensions of complex global issues. Among her Washington assignments was a tour in the mid-1970s at VOA’s Africa division. In retirement Gulliksen volunteered as a docent at the Kennedy Center.
Marjorie Harrison, a USIA Foreign Service officer, died December 11, 2025. In between earning a degree from Brandeis University and a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Massachusetts, she was a Peace Corps volunteer in Malaysia. Harrison then worked in higher education at Colgate University and Chatham University before joining USIA. In her Foreign Service career she served in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Benin, India, Mauritius, and Malaysia.
Mark Larsen, a USIA and State Department Foreign Service officer, died December 19, 2025, from complications of lung cancer. Joining USIA in 1985, he served over the course of a 29-year career in public affairs positions in China, Thailand, India, Nepal, and Uganda. His domestic assignments included working as a country affairs officer in USIA’s Office of North African, Near Eastern, and South Asian Affairs. After retiring in 2014, Larsen worked part-time as a rehired annuitant at the State Department.