Riga, May 13, 2014 – Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Richard Stengel arrives in Riga today for an official visit. During his visit, Under Secretary Stengel will meet with Latvian government officials, media professionals and U.S. Government program alumni, participate in a town hall meeting at Riga Stradiņš University, and tour the new Latvian National Library. This is Richard Stengel’s first visit to Europe as Under Secretary of State. His trip includes stops in three countries: he will arrive in Riga from Kyiv, Ukraine, and leave for Brussels, Belgium.
On May 14, 10:45 – 11:30 Richard Stengel will deliver a public town hall and question and answer session at Riga Stradiņš University (RSU) Hippocrates Hall, Dzirciema street 16. During the session, Richard Stengel will discuss public diplomacy and U.S.-Latvia relations, as well as share insights from his experience on the role of media in international relations. The event will take place in English and will be moderated by journalist Edijs Bošs. Everybody interested in participating should arrive at the RSU Hippocrates Hall no later than 10:30. The session will be live streamed on RSU Youtube account:http://goo.gl/eMOEQQ.
As Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Richard Stengel provides global strategic leadership of all Department of State public diplomacy and public affairs engagement and oversees the bureaus of Educational and Cultural Affairs, International Information Programs, and Public Affairs, and the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications.
Prior to assuming this position, Richard Stengel was the Managing Editor of TIME magazine from 2006 to 2013. Stengel has taught at Princeton University, written many publications, and is the author of several books. From 1992 to 1994, Stengel worked with Nelson Mandela on his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, and later served as an associate producer of the 1996 Oscar-nominated documentary, Mandela. Richard Stengel received an Emmy award in 2012 for his work as executive producer on TIME’s documentary, “Beyond 9/11: Portraits of Resilience.”
