NEWS

Ambassador to discuss U.S.-Russian relations before, after Sept. 11 in April 24 talk

CHAPEL HILL -- Yuri V. Ushakov, ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States, will give a talk on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus April 24.

The talk, titled "U.S.-Russian Relations Before and After September 11," will be held at 3 p.m. in 111 Carroll Hall. The event is free to the public.

The ambassador’s visit is sponsored jointly by the Office of the Provost, the University Center for International Studies and the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Ushakov has served as ambassador to the United States since January 1999. Directly before then, he served as deputy minister of foreign affairs of the Russian Federation; in this role, he directed his country’s United Nations, legal affairs, humanitarian affairs, human rights, linguistic services and archives.

Other previous positions have included ambassador and permanent representative of the Russian Federation to the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, headquartered in Vienna; and director of the Department of All European Cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

Dr. David Pike, event organizer, and other university officials said the visit had been arranged in conjunction with the effort to establish an institutional relationship between UNC and the Moscow State University for International Relations. This effort, which has been under way formally for several years and which Pike directs, operates under the auspices of the University Center for International Studies. In May, eight undergraduates from the Russian university will visit UNC to participate in a weeklong summer school course planned for them.

The Moscow State University of International Relations, often referred to as the "Russian Harvard," is regarded as the most elite institution of higher education in Russia.

Since 1990, UNC faculty members representing the Academic Affairs Library; the College of Arts and Sciences; the schools of law, journalism and mass communication, and government; and other divisions have visited the university, participating in seminars and scholarly conferences, advising on the building of Russian library collections that would expand holdings in Western literature and setting up information systems. Faculty from the Russian university have visited UNC, joining North Carolina faculty in grant applications and cooperating in other programs.

On two occasions, groups of UNC undergraduates have visited the Russian university to participate in weeklong workshops.

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University Center for International Studies contact: Dr. David Pike at (919) 843-9158

News Services contact: Deb Saine at (919) 962-8415