Ambassador Tom Pickering joined Hills and Co., an international consulting firm, in 2006 as vice chairman. In July 2006, he retired as senior vice president of international relations of the Boeing Company. He continues to consult for the firm.

Pickering’s diplomatic career has spanned five decades, encompassing service as ambassador to Russia, India, Israel, El Salvador, Nigeria and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. He served as ambassador and representative to the United Nations in New York and holds the personal rank of career ambassador, the highest in the U.S. Foreign Service.

Pickering’s service to the U.S. government began in 1956 with the U.S. Navy and was followed by positions with the Bureau of Intelligence and Research of the State Department and the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. He has served as a political adviser in Geneva to the U.S. delegation to the 18-Nation Disarmament Conference; consul in Zanzibar; deputy chief of mission in Tanzania; deputy director of the Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs; executive secretary of the State Department; special assistant to Secretaries William P. Rogers and Henry A. Kissinger; assistant secretary of state for oceans, environment and science; undersecretary of state for political affairs; and president of the Eurasia Foundation.

Pickering received a bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College and master’s degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and the University of Melbourne in Australia. He holds honorary doctorate degrees from Bowdoin College and 12 other universities and is a member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Chairman’s Forum Featuring Ambassador Thomas Pickering from Stimson Center on Vimeo.