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4/22/2020
12:00 PM - 2:00 PM

John Davison, Director of the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies (TALIM), will speak about plans to celebrate the Bicentennial of America's only national landmark located outside of the United States, the old American Legation in Tangier.  Since de-commissioning as a State Department diplomatic mission in 1960, the Legation functioned as a Foreign Service Institute and then Peace Corps language school before being turned over in 1976 to a non-profit association which opened as a museum honoring the historic U.S.-Moroccan friendship. Today, in addition to the Museum, TALIM hosts at the Legation a research library, classrooms for neighborhood women's literacy and other youth programs, and as a venue for cultural events and academic conferences.

John Davison has been TALIM’s Director since July, 2014. He was an accomplished diplomat and negotiator for the State Department with nearly 30 years of global experience in macroeconomics, conflict resolution, good governance, sustainable development, trade policy and education.

As U.S. Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs in New Delhi, John coordinated high-level bilateral dialogues in energy, aviation, trade and investment policy, and technology cooperation. As Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires in Niger, John led the U.S. response to a drought-related food crisis that delivered assistance to millions on the brink of starvation. There he also helped to design, identify funding for, and implement programs on conflict resolution, girls’ education, electoral support and anti-trafficking.  As Deputy U.S. Representative to the U.N. Economic and Social Council, John led teams negotiating at global conferences on Financing for Development, HIV/AIDS, Sustainable Development, and the Rights of the Child. John also served as Political Adviser on Iraq and the Middle East to the then U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Bill Richardson.

Much of John’s career has been in North Africa and the Sahel, beginning with his service as a Peace Corps Volunteer English teacher in Morocco.   He began his Foreign Service career in Guinea-Bissau and later served as Finance Officer in Cairo, Egypt. John both studied Arabic at the State Department’s Arabic Language Field School in Tunisia and later became its director, where he managed a multi-national faculty who trained U.S. diplomats to interact with Arab counterparts, give interviews and conduct business in the Middle East.  Since retiring from the Foreign Service in 2009, John also worked for the United Nations Development Programme in Cape Verde, where he advised the Cape Verdean government and donors on aid effectiveness and coordination issues.  A graduate of Georgetown University, John speaks French, Arabic and Portuguese.