Ambassador (ret.) Larry C. Napper served as interim director of the Master's Program in International Affairs (2013-2014). From 2009-2013, Napper was director of the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs at the Bush School. Ambassador Napper is a professor of the practice at the Bush School with primary teaching, research, and service interests in American diplomacy and statecraft, US foreign and national security policy, and Russia and the Eurasian states of the former USSR. From March-July 2008, Ambassador Napper served as co-leader of the Iraq Governance Assessment Team, which made numerous recommendations to US Ambassador Ryan Crocker and commanding general Multi-National Force Iraq, General David Petraeus, on measures to improve governance in Iraq, following extensive visits to American forces and Iraqi leaders throughout the country. Napper served on a Council on Foreign Relations Task Force on Turkey, which released its report, "US-Turkey Relations: A New Partnership" on May 8, 2012.
Ambassador Napper completed a thirty-one-year career in the United States Foreign Service in 2005, receiving the secretary of state's Career Achievement Award, Presidential Meritorious Service Awards in 1994 and 2001, and numerous other individual and group awards. Larry Napper served as US ambassador to Kazakhstan from 2001-2004. After 9/11, Ambassador Napper led in securing Kazakhstan's commitment to the war on terror and active cooperation in preventing proliferation of WMD. During Ambassador Napper's tenure, American investment in Kazakhstan exceeded $6 billion, including major projects in energy and transportation and ground-breaking on a $100 million new embassy compound. Under Napper's leadership, the embassy was a strong advocate for democracy and human rights in Kazakhstan.
Napper served as the US ambassador to the Republic of Latvia from 1995-98. During his tenure, Latvia made decisive strides toward membership in NATO and the EU. From 1998-2001, Ambassador Napper was coordinator for US assistance to Central Europe and the Balkans, administering a $600 million budget for peacekeeping and post-conflict reconstruction.
From 1991-94, Napper served as director of the State Department's Office of Soviet Union Affairs, restructuring the office following the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Napper led in establishing diplomatic relations with the independent states that emerged from the Soviet collapse, opening embassies in each of the new capitals. From 1989-91, Napper served as charge d'affaires and deputy chief of mission of the US embassy in Bucharest, Romania, receiving the Department's Distinguished Honor Award for leadership during the December 1989 violent overthrow of the Ceausescu dictatorship. From 1974-1989, Napper served in numerous diplomatic assignments in Moscow, Southern Africa, and Washington. Ambassador Napper received his BA in history from Texas A&M University in 1969 and MA in government and foreign affairs from the University of Virginia in 1974. Ambassador Napper was born in San Antonio, Texas (11/27/47), and served in the US Army from 1969-72.
