Amb. Kathleen Stephens
Chair, The Korea Society

Kathleen Stephens was a career diplomat in the United States Foreign Service, 1978-2015. She was U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea 2008-2011, the first woman and first Korean-speaker in that position. Other overseas assignments included postings to Trinidad and Tobago, China, Korea, former Yugoslavia, Portugal, Northern Ireland, where she was U.S. Consul General in Belfast during the negotiations culminating in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, and India, where she was U.S. Chargé d’Affaires (2014-2015).

In Washington, Ambassador Stephens served in senior policy positions at the Department of State and the White House, including acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (2012), Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (2005-2007), Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs (2003-2005), and National Security Council Director for European Affairs at the Clinton White House.

Stephens was William J. Perry Fellow for Korea at Stanford University’s Shorenstein Asia Pacific Research Center, 2015-2018. She served as President and CEO of the Korea Economic Institute of American (KEIA) from 2018 to 2023. She is board vice-chair of The Asia Foundation and board chair of Pacific Century Institute.

Ambassador Stephens’ U.S. government awards include the Presidential Meritorious Service Award (2009) and Linguist of the Year (2010). Other awards related to Korea include the Kwanghwa Medal of Diplomatic Merit, the Sejong Cultural Award, the Korean-American Friendship Association Award, the Kevin O’Donnell Distinguished Friend of Korea, AmCham Korea’s Outstanding Achievement Award, and in 2022 the First Baek Bum Kim Koo Award.

Stephens studied at Prescott College, University of Hong Kong and Oxford University, and holds a BA Honors from Prescott. She holds a Master’s degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School. In the 1970s she was an Outward Bound instructor in Hong Kong, and a Peace Corps volunteer in Korea.

Thomas J. Byrne
President & CEO

Young Choi
Treasurer

Carter Booth
Corporate Secretary

 updated as of April 26, 2024