A 38-year veteran of the State Department Foreign Service, Ambassador Herman J. Cohen has devoted his professional career to African and European affairs. He worked in Africa for twelve years in five countries, including three years in Senegal as the American Ambassador. His Washington assignments included four years as Deputy Director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, two years in the National Security Council as President Reagan’s Senior Director for Africa, and four years as Assistant Secretary of State for Africa under President George Bush (1989-1993). Mr. Cohen was Senior Adviser to the intergovernmental Global Coalition for Africa from 1994 to 1998, and is currently President of the Africa-oriented consulting firm Cohen and Woods International. He travels to Africa regularly on behalf of American business firms. His current business consulting activities include off-shore oil in the Republic of Guinea, private sector electricity production in the Republic of Congo, and aluminum production in Tanzania. He is also a professorial lecturer in the African Studies Department of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC.
