About the Speaker

Amb. (ret.) Susan D. Page is director of the Weiser Diplomacy Center, and professor of practice in international diplomacy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, as well as a professor from practice at the University of Michigan Law School. She has deep expertise in international relations, particularly in Africa. Her senior level roles have included Assistant Secretary General/Special Adviser on Rule of Law, Global Focal Point Review Implementation, Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) to the United Nations Mission for Justice Support to Haiti (MINUJUSTH), first U.S. Ambassador to newly independent South Sudan, U.S. Chargé d’Affaires to the African Union, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, key adviser to the peace process that resolved Africa’s longest-running civil war through international mediation, head of rule of law programs for the UN, and a foreign service regional legal advisor and political officer in East, Central, and Southern Africa. Page earned a JD from Harvard Law School and an AB in English with high distinction from the University of Michigan. She was awarded a Rotary International Postgraduate Fellowship to Nepal where she conducted research on women’s and children’s rights. In addition, she received certificates of merit and distinction from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland before attending law school. Ambassador Page is an elected member of the American Academy of Diplomacy, a board member of Road Scholar, and a member of the Association of Black American Ambassadors. 

About the Moderator

Stan Otto, current IAF Advisory Board co-chair, was a senior diplomat in the State Department with 40 years expertise in promoting international cooperation and understanding, including policy planning, negotiating and management in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. He has intimate knowledge of the government, economy, culture and languages in Germany, France, and Japan. Prior to the Foreign Service, he was a Fulbright lecturer in Taiwan and taught at universities in Iran and Egypt. He also served in the Peace Corps in Morocco and Cameroon. His avocations include music and the arts, and he sings baritone in the local Shoreliners Quartet.