Speakers
Ambassador Susan D. Page
Fmr U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of South Sudan
Ambassador (ret.) Susan D. Page is a professor of practice of international diplomacy at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and a professor from practice at the University of Michigan Law School.
At U-M, she serves on the Provost’s Faculty Advisory Committee; the Council on Global Engagement; the Executive Committee of the African Studies Center; the Faculty Steering Committee of the Donia Human Rights Center; and is a Faculty Fellow of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.
Amongst numerous other professional associations, Amb. Page is an elected member of the American Academy of Diplomacy, serves on the board of trustees of The Carter Center, is an advisory board member at Foreign Policy for America, a founding board member of the Global Diligence Alliance, and on the
Advisory Council of the United Nations Association of the National Capitol Area. She possesses deep expertise in international relations, particularly in Africa, excellent French language skills, and the political, legal, and analytical acumen of a Harvard-trained lawyer.
Amb. Page was sworn in as the first U.S. ambassador to the Republic of South Sudan in 2011, a few months after the creation of the world's newest nation. Following her historic tenure in South Sudan, she served as acting U.S. permanent representative to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., to the U.S. Mission to the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Other senior level roles held by Amb. Page include UN Assistant Secretary-General/Special Adviser on Rule of Law, Global Focal Point Review Implementation; Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) to the UN Mission for Justice Support to Haiti (MINUJUSTH); Deputy SRSG (Rule of Law) MINUSTAH (Haiti); deputy assistant Secretary of State (DAS) for African Affairs covering Central Africa, Southern Africa and the Sudan; legal adviser to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Secretariat for Peace in Sudan and key mediation team member and co-drafter of essential elements of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) for Sudan; director of the Rule of Law and Corrections Advisory Unit of the UN peacekeeping Mission in Sudan (UNMIS); regional director for Southern and East Africa at the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Washington, DC; and chief, Justice and Human Rights Unit at UNDP in Rwanda.
Page was also a Foreign Service Officer and Regional Legal Advisor for East and Southern Africa for USAID, based in Kenya and Botswana, and political officer in Rwanda. Ambassador Page began her foreign affairs career at the U.S. Department of State in 1991 as attorney-adviser for Politico-Military Affairs in the Office of the Legal Adviser following the conclusion of her Rotary International postgraduate fellowship to Nepal where she conducted research on women’s and children’s rights.
Ambassador Page also serves on the Road Scholar board of directors and the advisory board of the Kellogg Institute for International Studies. She is a member of the Association of Black American Ambassadors, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and the Illinois Bar.
Originally from the Chicago area, Ambassador Page received her Juris Doctor (JD) from Harvard Law School, an A.B. in English with High Distinction from the University of Michigan, and Certificates of Distinction (English) and Merit (Psychology) from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland before attending law school. She is an avid euchre player.