William Harrison Courtney

Swearing-In Ceremony for William H. Courtney, Ambassador to Kazakhstan on August 20, 1992

William Harrison Courtney (born July 18, 1944 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA) was an American diplomat, having served as representative for the U.S. mostly in Eastern Europe.

William Courtney is an adjunct senior fellow at RAND. He cochairs the America's International Partners advisory council of America250, the executive arm of the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission. It inspires and facilitates commemorations of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States in 1776.

In 2014, Ambassador Courtney joined RAND from Computer Sciences Corporation, where he was senior principal for federal policy strategy. From 1972 through 1999 he was a foreign service officer in the U.S. Department of State. He was ambassador to Kazakhstan, Georgia, and the U.S.-Soviet Commission which implemented the Threshold Test Ban Treaty. He was special assistant to the president for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia; deputy negotiator in U.S.-Soviet Defense and Space Talks; deputy executive secretary of the NSC staff; and special assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. He served abroad in Brasilia, Moscow, Geneva, Almaty, and Tbilisi.

Ambassador Courtney is chair-emeritus of the board of trustees of Eurasia Foundation. He is a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy and the Council on Foreign Relations, where in 1977–78 he was an international affairs fellow.

Education and personal life

Dr. Courtney graduated from West Virginia University (B.A., 1966) and Brown University (Ph.D., 1980). He is married and has two children.

External links

• Appearances on C-SPAN