New Dean Brings State Department Experience to the Josef Korbel School

In seeking a new dean for the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, the University of Denver looked to the foreign policy trenches.

Christopher Hill, a seasoned diplomat who most recently served as U.S. ambassador to Iraq, has been chosen to lead one of the world’s top international studies programs. He assumes his new post with the beginning of the 2010–11 academic year.

“If one considers his tremendous experience and great success as a Foreign Service officer and diplomat, it’s apparent that this is just the sort of career for which we are educating our students at the Korbel School. He’s going to be a great dean,” said Chancellor Robert Coombe.

A veteran of the Senior Foreign Service, Hill was appointed assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs in 2005. In 2009, he became U.S. ambassador to Iraq, a post he filled until summer 2010. Over the course of his 30-plus-year diplomatic career, he has developed a reputation as a fair-minded and media-savvy negotiator. Hill was a member of the negotiating team at the Dayton Peace Accords, which led to the end of the Bosnian war. In addition, he was involved in the talks that resolved the Kosovo crisis. More recently, Hill led the six-party negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear program.

He has held many international posts, including that of U.S. ambassador to Poland, U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia, U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Korea and special envoy to Kosovo. He also served as special assistant to the president and senior director for southeast European affairs in the National Security Council.

The recipient of the State Department’s Distinguished Service Award for his contributions to the Bosnian peace settlement, Hill also earned the Robert S. Frasure Award for Peace Negotiations for his work on Kosovo.

In To End a War, his book about the U.S. intervention in Bosnia, former U.N. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke describes Hill as “brilliant, fearless and argumentative,” adding that Hill manages to balance passion with a level head.

“I am delighted to be coming to the Korbel School this fall. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime to work with such talented faculty and staff and to do my part in providing the finest education possible for graduate and undergraduate students alike,” Hill said. “I also look forward to being a member of the broader University of Denver community and to contributing in any way I can to the friendly and scholarly atmosphere of this extraordinary center of learning.”

Hill graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, with a BA in economics. He received a master’s degree from the Naval War College in 1994. He speaks Polish, Serbo-Croatian and Macedonian.