Larry C. Napper
Interim Director of the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs, Senior Lecturer and Ambassador-in-Residence
Larry C. Napper is a Senior Lecturer at the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. Ambassador Napper completed a thirty-one year career in the United States Foreign Service with an assignment as Diplomat in Residence in Houston, Texas from 2004-2005. Ambassador Napper received the Secretary of State's Career Achievement Award in 2005, Presidential Meritorious Service Awards in 1994 and 2001, and numerous individual and group awards.
Larry C. Napper served as United States Ambassador to Kazakhstan from 2001-2004. After 9/11, Ambassador Napper led 100 Americans and 550 local staff in securing Kazakhstan's commitment to the war on terror and active cooperation in preventing proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. During Ambassador Napper's tenure, American investment in Kazakhstan exceeded $6 billion, including major projects in the energy and transportation sectors and a $100 million project to construct a new embassy compound. Under Ambassador Napper's leadership, the embassy was a strong advocate for democratic reform and human rights in Kazakhstan.
Mr. Napper was born on November 27, 1947, in San Antonio, Texas. After graduating from Texas A&M University in 1969 with a BA in History, he served in the United States Army from 1969-72. After earning his MA in Government and Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia, Mr. Napper entered the United States Foreign Service in 1974. After Russian language training, Mr. Napper was assigned to the United States Embassy in Moscow from 1975-77. After serving as Political Officer in Gaborone, Botswana from 1977-79, Mr. Napper received advanced training in Soviet and East European Affairs at Stanford University. In 1980, Mr. Napper joined the Department's Office of Soviet Union Affairs where he served until receiving an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellowship with Representative Lee H. Hamilton.
In 1984, Mr. Napper returned to Embassy Moscow as Chief of the Foreign Affairs Unit of the Political Section. During 1986-88, Mr. Napper was Deputy Director of the Department's Office of Southern African Affairs. From 1989-91, Mr. Napper served as Charge d'Affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, Romania. Mr. Napper received the Department's Distinguished Honor Award for leadership during the December 1989 overthrow of the Ceausescu dictatorship.
From August 1991 to July 1994, Mr. Napper served as Director of the Department's Office of Soviet Union Affairs, restructuring the office following the collapse of the Soviet Union. During that period, Mr. Napper worked to establish diplomatic relations with the independent states that emerged from the Soviet Union, opening embassies in each of their capitals.
Mr. Napper served as the U.S. Ambassador to Latvia from 1995 to 1998. During Ambassador Napper's tenure, Latvia made decisive strides toward eventual membership in NATO and the European Union. From 1998 to 2001, Mr. Napper was Coordinator for U.S. Assistance to Central Europe and the Balkans, administering a $600 million budget for urgent peacekeeping and post-conflict reconstruction.