Ambassador Kathleen Stephens, Pacific Century Institute’s Chair, was a career diplomat in the United States Foreign Service (1978-2015). She was the United States’ ambassador to the Republic of Korea from 2008-2011, the first woman and first Korean-speaker to serve in that position. Ambassador Stephens also served as the Chargé d'Affaires to India (2014-2015), where she concluded her public service. Other overseas assignment included postings to China, former Yugoslavia, Portugal, Northern Ireland, where she was U.S. Consul General in Belfast during the negotiations culminating in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. She has assumed the position as President and CEO of Korea Economic Institute America in September 2018. Ambassador Stephens also served in a number of policy positions in Washington at the Department of State and the White House. These included acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (2012), Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (2005-2007), Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs (2003-2005), and National Security Council Director for European Affairs at the Clinton White House.