US Ambassador to Russia William Burns cordially invites members of the  Alumni Association of International Educational Programs for a morning coffee at the US Embassy on March 28, 2008. At this event you will have an opportunity to meet the Ambassador and discuss current affairs and the US-Russia relations.

To look for details and sign up for this event please go to: http://www.muskieclub.ru/forum/81.

Ambassador William Joseph Burns, of the District of Columbia, is a career
member of the Senior Foreign Service, with the rank of Career Minister. He
assumed charge as Ambassador to the Russian Federation on August 18, 2005.

Ambassador Burns served from 2001 until 2005 as Assistant Secretary of
State for Near Eastern Affairs, and was Ambassador to Jordan from 1998
until 2001. Ambassador Burns has also served in a number of other posts
since entering the Foreign Service in 1982, including: Executive Secretary
of the State Department and Special Assistant to the Secretary of State;
Minister-Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow;
Acting Director and Principal Deputy Director of the State Department's
Policy Planning Staff; and Special Assistant to the President and Senior
Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs at the National Security
Council staff.

Ambassador Burns earned a B.A. in History from LaSalle University and
M.Phil. and D.Phil. degrees in International Relations from Oxford
University, where he studied as a Marshall Scholar. He is the recipient of
three honorary doctoral degrees. Ambassador Burns is the author of Economic
Aid and American Policy Toward Egypt, 1955-1981 (State University of New
York Press, l985). He speaks Russian, Arabic, and French, and is the
recipient of two Presidential Distinguished Service Awards and a number of
Department of State awards, including two Distinguished Honor Awards, the
2006 Charles E. Cobb, Jr. Ambassadorial Award for Initiative and Success
in Trade Development, the 2005 Robert C. Frasure Memorial Award, the James
Clement Dunn Award, and five Superior Honor awards. In 1994, he was named
to TIME Magazine's list of the "50 Most Promising American Leaders Under
Age 40", and to TIME's list of "100 Young Global Leaders."

Ambassador Burns and his wife, Lisa Carty, have two daughters.