The School of International Relations and Public Administration at NUM welcomed a special guest speaker of its Fall 2016 “Distinguished Speakers Series” on October 13, 2016. It featured, Ms. Susan A. Thornton, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, who was accompanied with the H.E. Ms. Jennifer Zimdahl Galt, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the U.S. to Mongolia. Ms. Thornton spoke on “The U.S. Policy toward the Asia Pacific” to the faculty members, undergraduate and graduate students at SIRPA. After the speech, Ms. Susan Thornton and Ambassador Galt responded to questions from attendees and had an engaging conversation with the audience on some current and historical issues in the U.S. foreign policy in Asia and bilateral relations between the two countries.
The Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Ms. Susan A. Thornton and Ambassador Jennifer Zimdahl Galt, were received before the former’s speech by the SIRPA Director, Dr. Battulga Sukhee and faculty representatives and the two sides shared their views on potential cooperation in future research and training.
The SIRPA “Distinguished Speakers Series” (DSS) with its season running from October 2016 to May 2017 continues by offering you the opportunity to experience and learn from high-ranking foreign representatives. Please visit our website for future information on Fall 2016 DSS lectures.
Ms. Susan Tornton’s bio:
She assumed responsibility as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in February 2016, after serving for a year and a half as Deputy Assistant Secretary. A career-member of the United States Foreign Service, Ms. Thornton joined the State Department in 1991 and has spent the last twenty years working on U.S. policy in Eurasia, focused on the countries of the former Soviet Union and East Asia.
As Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Ms. Thornton is responsible for policy related to China, Mongolia, and Taiwan.
Previous Foreign Service assignments include Deputy Chief of Mission to the U.S. Embassy in Turkmenistan, Deputy Director of the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs at the State Department in Washington, Economic Unit Chief in the Office of Korean Affairs, and overseas postings in Beijing, Chengdu, Yerevan and Almaty.
Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Ms. Thornton worked at the Foreign Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., where she researched and wrote about Soviet bureaucratic politics and contemporary Russia. She speaks Russian and Mandarin Chinese.
About the Distinguished Speakers Series at SIRPA:
The Distinguished Speakers Series (DSS) will present the latest trends in international and bilateral relations and provoke conversation among undergraduate, graduate students and interested faculty members by hosting high-profile figures from foreign embassies and international organizations in Mongolia. The DSS is sponsored by the SIRPA dean’s office and will be offered on a monthly basis throughout the academic year in the conference room #407 at 3:00pm on Fridays unless otherwise noted.
The series are open to the SIRPA alumni and students from other NUM schools, though priority is given to students, faculty and staff of the SIRPA.
