Category: PD Fellows

Public Diplomacy Fellow, 2017-2018

Robert Ogburn has held the title of Minister-Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul since September 2014.  He joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1987 and has served in Iraq, Korea, Vietnam, Washington and Egypt.

Prior to Seoul, Robert was Deputy Consul General at the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City from 2011-2014.  In 2009-2010, Robert was the State Department’s senior advisor for rule of law at the US Embassy in Baghdad, where he focused on inter-agency and provincial coordination of the Mission’s rule of law efforts.  Robert has held five previous jobs in Korea, including Spokesman and Counselor for Public Affairs.

Robert was also press and cultural attaché in Ho Chi Minh City (2001-2005); briefing coordinator and Middle East/South Asia program officer for the Foreign Press Center in Washington, D.C.; and Deputy Embassy Spokesman in Cairo.  In addition to serving in Iraq, he considers his career highlights to be re-opening the USG’s diplomatic post in Busan, Korea in 2007; running White House Press Filing Centers during Presidential visits to various countries; and, from 2001-5 bringing some of the first cultural and performing arts programs to southern Vietnam since the end of the War.  In Seoul he has been the chairman of one of the world’s largest binational Fulbright Commissions, and he also introduced the State Department’s first-ever FabLab Fellow and other innovative sports and cultural diplomacy programs.

Robert has an MA in East Asian Studies from the George Washington University (’85) and an MBA from Johns Hopkins University (’04).  Raised in Anne Arundel and Prince George’s Counties MD, he graduated with honors from the University of Maryland Baltimore County’s Interdisciplinary Studies Program (’82).  Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Robert worked in broadcasting, investment banking, and law enforcement.  Robert was adopted from Korea to American parents and is married to Thu-hang Ogburn (CCAS ’83); they have two children, Calvin (CCAS ’12) and Calista (high school senior).

Other PD Fellows have been:

2018-2019 Karl Stoltz

2015-2015 Thomas Miller

2014-2015 Patricia Kabra

2013-2014 Jonathan Henick

Public Diplomacy Fellow, 2015-2016

Thomas Miller is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. Until recently, he served as Minister-Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy Berlin, a position he has held since November 2012. Previously, he was the Mission Director for Strategic Communications at the American Embassy Islamabad. Before that, Mr. Miller served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Athens as well as Chairman of the Fulbright Board.

Mr. Miller served as Counselor for Public Affairs in Athens, Greece, as well as in Nicosia, Cyprus (2005-2008), Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer in Ankara, Turkey (2001-2005), Office Director for English Language Programs (1999-2000), Chief of the English Language Programs Division (1997-1998), Chief of Materials Division (1996-1997), Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer Paris, France (1992-1996) and in Islamabad, Pakistan (1995-1998) and was Regional English Language Officer in Rabat, Morocco (1998-1992).

He received an M.A. in English as a Second Language and a B.A. in German and Anthropology from the University of Minnesota. Mr. Miller was a Fulbright Scholar in Karachi, Pakistan, where he launched a Master’s Degree in English as a Second Language. His foreign languages are German, Hindi, Urdu, Greek, French, and Turkish.

Other PD Fellows have been:

2018-2019 Karl Stoltz

2017-2018 Robert Ogburn

2014-2015 Patricia Kabra

2013-2014 Jonathan Henick

Public Diplomacy Fellow, 2014-2015

Patricia Kabra is a career member of the senior Foreign Service with the rank of minister-counselor and the Public Diplomacy diplomatic fellow at the Institute of Public Diplomacy and Global Communications. Ms. Kabra has over twenty years of diplomatic service in the Middle East and at the Department of State in Washington, DC. She has been posted overseas as a Public Diplomacy Officer in Damascus, Jerusalem, Doha, Tunis and Cairo. In Washington, she served as Deputy Director for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in the Near Eastern Affairs Bureau at the Department of State. Throughout her career, she has managed strategy for public diplomacy and public affairs, including press activities; strategic messaging; cultural and educational exchanges; projects and grants. Her most recent position before joining IPDGC for the 2014-15 academic year was at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo where she served as the Public Affairs Counselor.

In addition to government service, Dr. Kabra previously taught History, Philosophy, Humanities, Sociology, English, and Islamic Studies to undergraduate students at Woodbury University in Burbank, Calif. and the Los Angeles Community College system.

Patricia Kabra received a Ph.D from the University of California Los Angeles in the History of the Middle East; an M.A. from Pennsylvania State University in the History of the Middle East and Africa; and B.A. from Penn State in Philosophy and Fine Arts. She has received numerous awards over her career, including State Department awards for superior and meritorious service, as well as a civilian Department of Defense award. She speaks fluent Arabic and French. 

Other PD Fellows have been:

2018-2019 Karl Stoltz

2017-2018 Robert Ogburn

2015-2016 Thomas Miller

2013-2014 Jonathan Henick

Public Diplomacy Fellow, 2013-2014

Jonathan Henick is a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service who served as IPDGC’s Public Diplomacy Fellow for the 2013-2014 academic year.

Prior to this role, he served as the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary and Director for Press and Public Diplomacy in the Bureau for South and Central Asian Affairs in Washington, DC, where he was responsible for overseeing the public diplomacy and public affairs operations of the Bureau for South and Central Asian Affairs and for providing policy guidance and maangement oversight of over 400 U.S. government employees working at 11 embassies and seven consulates in 13 countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.

Henick also served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Timor-Leste, a mission that included four U.S. government agencies and nearly 200 staff. He has also served in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Portugal, and Uzbekistan. He received the 2008 Award for Achievement in Public Diplomacy from the Public Diplomacy Alumni Association and four individual Superior Honor Awards from the State Department.

In his academic career, Henick spent one year as a visiting research fellow and diplomat-in-residence at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Originally from New York, he speaks Russian, Portuguese, Turkish, and Azerbaijani. He holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University.

Other PD Fellows have been:

2018-2019 Karl Stoltz

2017-2018 Robert Ogburn

2015-2016 Thomas Miller

2014-2015 Patricia Kabra