The Honorable Chas W. Freeman, Jr.
Ambassador Freeman was Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs from 1993-94, earning the highest public
service awards of the Department of Defense for his roles in designing a NATO-centered post-Cold War European security system
and in reestablishing defense and military relations with China. He served as U. S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (during operations
Desert Shield and Desert Storm). He was Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs during the historic U.S.
mediation of Namibian independence from South Africa and Cuban troop withdrawal from Angola.
Chas Freeman served as Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d'Affaires in the American embassies at both Bangkok (1984-1986) and
Beijing (1981-1984). He was Director for Chinese Affairs at the U.S. Department of State from 1979-1981. He was the principal American
interpreter during the late President Nixon's path-breaking visit to China in 1972. In addition to his Middle Eastern, African, East Asian
and European diplomatic experience, he served in India.
Ambassador Freeman earned a certificate in Latin American studies from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, certificates in
both the national and Taiwan dialects of Chinese from the former Foreign Service Institute field school in Taiwan, a BA magna cum laude
from Yale University and a JD from the Harvard Law School. He is the recipient of numerous high honors and awards. He is the author
of The Diplomat's Dictionary (Revised Edition) and Arts of Power, both published by the United States Institute of Peace in 1997, and a
sought-after speaker on a wide variety of foreign policy issues. Ambassador Freeman is Chairman of the Board of Projects International,
Inc., a Washington-based business development firm that specializes in arranging international joint ventures, acquisitions, and other
business operations for its American and foreign clients. For the past decade and more, he served concurrently as co-chair of the United
States China Policy Foundation, president of the Middle East Policy Council, and vice chair of the Atlantic Council of the United States.
Current Affiliations
1995 - Present Chairman, Projects International, Inc.
1995 - Present Board of Directors, American Academy of Diplomacy
2003 - Present Chairman, Committee for the Republic
2006 - Present Board of Overseers, Roger Williams University
2009 - Present Executive Committee, Atlantic Council of the United States
2009 - Present Advisory Board, Center for Security Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2009 - Present Board of Directors, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace