Ambassador Melvyn Levitsky Melvyn Levitsky Ambassador and Professor, International Relations and Public Administration Director, Global Policies Series Ambassador Melvyn Levitsky, Professor of International Relations and Public Administration, recently retired as a Career Minister in the U.S. Foreign Service and one of the country’s most senior diplomats. A Distinguished Fellow at the Moynihan Institute and a Professorial Lecturer at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Ambassador Levitsky is a favorite among students interested in issues of national security. His courses have such intriguing titles as U.S. National Security: Defense and Foreign policy; Environment, Population, Refugees, and Human Rights; Drugs Crime and Terrorism (affectionately called “Drugs and Thugs” by his students); and Post-Cold War Issues in Diplomacy and Statecraft. During his 35-year career as a U.S. diplomat, Ambassador Levitsky was Ambassador to Brazil from 1994-98 and before that held such senior positions as Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics Matters, Executive Secretary of the State Department, Ambassador to Bulgaria, Deputy Director of the Voice of America, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights. Ambassador Levitsky also served as Director of the State Department’s Office of UN Political Affairs and as Officer-in-Charge of U.S.-Soviet Bilateral Relations. Earlier in his career he was political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and a consul at U.S. Consulates in Belem, Brazil and Frankfurt, Germany. More Info...