SAN ANGELO, Texas — Tibor Nagy, a retired U.S. ambassador and former assistant secretary of state for African affairs, will be the featured speaker at the 2022 E. James Holland-Roy A. Harrell Jr. Foreign Affairs Speakers Program at Angelo State University.
The program is at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 15 at the Houston Harte University Center, 1910 Rosemont Drive, according to an ASU release.
Nagy's presentation, "Africa's Global Importance in the 21st Century and What that Means for the U.S.", is open to the public.
As assistant secretary of state for African affairs from 2018-2021, Nagy led U.S. efforts to deal with Africa's systematic issues. He prioritized increasing trade and investment between the U.S. and Africa, as well as implementing "deal teams" at every U.S. Embassy to support those efforts.
From 2003-2018, Nagy served as vice provost for international affairs at Texas Tech University, where his efforts resulted in large increases in international students, study abroad programs and international partnerships. He also lectured nationally on Africa, foreign policy, international development and U.S. diplomacy. He also advised two presidential campaigns, serving as Gov. Mitt Romney's Africa policy group co-chair in 2012 and on presidential candidate Barack Obama's Africa group in 2008.
Prior to joining Texas Tech, Nagy was the U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia in 1999-2002. He previously served as U.S. ambassador to Guinea and deputy ambassador in Nigeria, Cameroon and Togo, and he also had prior assignments in Zambia, the Seychelles, Washington, D.C., and Ethiopia.
Among his many U.S. State Department honors and awards, Nagy earned recognition for helping prevent famine in Ethiopia; supporting the evacuation of Americans from Sierra Leone during combat; supporting efforts to end the Ethio-Eritrean War, and managing the U.S. Embassy in Lagos, Nigeria, during political and economic crises. He was runner-up for "Deputy Chief of Mission of the Year" in 1995 and knighted by the president of Guinea in 1999.
After arriving in the U.S. as a political refugee from Hungary, Nagy received his bachelor's degree from Texas Tech and master's degree from George Washington University. He has contributed to various worldwide media and co-authored "Kiss Your Latte Goodbye" on managing in difficult international environments, which was the nonfiction winner at the 2014 Paris Book Festival.
While on the ASU campus Feb. 14-15, Nagy will also speak to several classes and meet with various student and faculty groups.
The E. James Holland-Roy A. Harrell Jr. Foreign Affairs Speakers Program is dedicated to providing ASU students and the community with a broader worldview and exposing students to potential career opportunities in the Foreign Service. The program is sponsored by the ASU College of Arts and Humanities.
