This event has completed.

1/29/2020
12:00 PM - 2:00 PM

AFSA President Eric Rubin will speak on the state of the Foreign Service and its future.  Taking over the leadership of AFSA this year, confronting what he describes as “probably the most significant set of challenges our service and our institution have ever faced," he and his new board have appealed to fellow foreign service officers to stay in the service and pledged to defend its people and its institution.​

Ambassador Eric Rubin comes to AFSA from his most recent posting as U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria, where he has served since 2016. His previous positions include Deputy Chief of Mission in Moscow, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian affairs, Consul General in Chiang Mai, Executive Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Assistant White House Press Secretary and NSC Director for Public Affairs, and Rusk Fellow at Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. Ambassador Rubin joined the Foreign Service in 1985 and is a Career Minister in the Senior Foreign Service. In 1994, he was a recipient of a group William R. Rivkin Award for Constructive Dissent by Mid-Level Officers for his work on the Bosnia crisis.

Ambassador Rubin is a former member of The Foreign Service Journal's editorial board and a career-long AFSA member. He has declared his commitment to defending the Foreign Service and all AFSA members at a time of unprecedented challenges and threats to our people and our profession.