KU News Release

Former ambassador to Qatar to speak at KU’s Dole Institute of Politics

LAWRENCE — Kenton Keith, former ambassador to Qatar, will speak at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 23, at the University of Kansas’ Dole Institute of Politics.

Keith is senior vice president of Meridian International in Washington, D.C., and a KU Distinguished Service Citation recipient. His talk is titled “American Grassroots Diplomacy in an Anti-American World.” The talk will be followed by a discussion of citizen engagement in public diplomacy with KU and community leaders.

During his career as a foreign service officer, Keith was counselor for Press and Cultural Affairs in Cairo and senior cultural affairs officer in Paris. He also worked in various posts in such countries as Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey and Brazil. At the time of his retirement, Keith was director of the U.S. Information Agency’s Office of North African, Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, managing field operations, public diplomacy activities and budget for the agency’s largest geographical bureau.

The event is supported by a grant through the People Speak Initiative, a United Nations Foundation program. This is the fourth year KU has participated in the program.

The free event is sponsored by the Office of International Programs and the Dole Institute of Politics. For more information, call (785) 864-6161.

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