2002 Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal Recipient

During a diplomatic career spanning five decades, Ambassador Pickering served as U.S. ambassador to the Russian Federation, India, Israel, El Salvador, Nigeria and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and as ambassador and representative to the United Nations. From 1997 to 2001, he served as U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. He held the personal rank of Career Ambassador, the highest in the U.S. Foreign Service. Ambassador Pickering received a bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College in 1953 and a master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. As a Fulbright fellow to the University of Melbourne in Australia, he received a second master’s degree. He is a member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies and the Council on Foreign Relations.