Bob Smolik

Bob Smolik is a veteran diplomat and scholar.  He worked around the world at U.S. Embassies, looking behind the scenes at how local politics, economics, and societies work -- or don’t.  His expertise as Diplomat in Residence at the University of Michigan is in economics and trade, as well as in UN human rights and NATO security issues. As an economic diplomat he worked to open foreign markets to U.S. trade and investment on a fair and equal basis.   As political advisor to U.S. military commanders in Africa and Europe, he worked on conflict mediation.   He serves as ambassador of American society and culture, helping Washington to understand the political and economic dynamics of other nations. As an international lecturer on anti-corruption and good governance, he worked in over 30 countries throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Bob holds graduate degrees from Berkeley and Harvard, an undergraduate degree from Cornell, and he is fluent in five Romance languages. He engages audiences with passion and expertise, offering a look behind the scenes at how foreign cultures view the world. He offers an expert, up-to-date perspective on the history, culture, and current affairs of the fascinating peoples and places you will visit.

Laura Kennedy

Laura Kennedy served almost four decades as a U.S. career diplomat.  She spent much of her career working in or on the former Soviet Union and served multiple assignments in Geneva and Vienna on multilateral disarmament and non-proliferation (conventional, nuclear, and biological) as well as a number of temporary assignments in New York, including the 2010 and 2015 NPT Review Conferences and heading the U.S. delegations to the UN Committee on Disarmament.  She retired in 2013 but was recalled to service in 2014 to head U.S. missions in Turkmenistan and Vienna. She retired again in 2015.

Kennedy is an elected member of the American Academy of Diplomacy and serves on the boards of the World Affairs Council in DC, the Arms Control Association, Foreign Policy for America, and the Advisory Council of the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation. She has lectured at various U.S. institutions including the U.S. Army General Command and Staff College, the Army War College, universities, and local international affairs councils.

After receiving her B.A. from Vassar College, Kennedy did graduate work at Stanford and American (M.A.) universities and is also a graduate of the Senior Seminar of the Department of State for which she later served as Dean. 

Hugh Neighbour

Hugh Neighbour brings many years of experience as a diplomat for the U.S. and an officer in the U.S. Navy, mostly working overseas.  Specialized in political and economic affairs, he was posted in Latin America, Asia/Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and North America.  Hugh was awarded the Secretary of State’s Career Achievement Award as well as a number of Department of State awards for distinguished service. 

Since retiring from the U.S. State Department in 2010, Hugh has worked as a consultant in both Washington and overseas, served as an official observer for several elections overseas, and lectured aboard high-end cruise ships. Several times a year, Hugh directs a course in advanced foreign area studies to select groups in the Washington region.  Hugh will offer a fresh, up-to-date perspective on the history, culture, and current affairs of the fascinating peoples and places you will visit.