Addressing today's critical need for dialogue on the issues that impact our world, Spertus inaugurated its Center for Public Dialogue lecture series with a rare Chicago appearance by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Dr. Zalmay Khalilzad.

A leading expert on public policy, the Mideast, and North Africa, Dr. Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad was appointed U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. in April 2007. Before this appointment, he served as U.S. Ambassador to Iraq from 2005 to 2007 and as U.S. Ambassador and Special Presidential Envoy to Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005. Before becoming Ambassador to Afghanistan, he served at the National Security Council as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Islamic Outreach and Southwest Asia Initiatives, and prior to that as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Southwest Asia, Near East, and North African Affairs. The Ambassador will be discussing U.S. priorities at the United Nations.

Dr. Khalilzad was born in the city of Mazari Sharif in northern Afghanistan. He is an ethnic Pashton, from the Kakar tribe, and the highest-ranking Muslim in the U.S. Administration. He received his bachelor's and master's degree from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, and his PhD from the University of Chicago.