McKinney Russell
President
Public Diplomacy Council

---

McKinney Russell is a frequent visitor to the former Soviet republics as a specialist in U.S. exchanges and training programs with those countries. In his final Foreign Service post as Counselor of the U.S. Information Agency, that organization’s senior career position, he set up the first American cultural centers in the newly independent states during the early 1990s. As the U.S. Embassy’s Minister Counselor for Public Affairs, he headed U.S. information, cultural, and exchange programs in the USSR, Germany, Brazil, Spain, and China. His career also included directing the television and film service of USIA and Voice of America broadcasts to the Soviet Union. He achieved the rank of Career Minister in the Foreign Service. He serves on the board of directors of George Washington University’s Public Diplomacy Institute.