October 16, 2014
Jacobs to present Tenney Distinguished Lecture
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Former U.S. ambassador Janice L. Jacobs, who is teaching this fall at Southern Illinois University Carbondale as a visiting lecturer, will offer her perspectives of 21st Century diplomacy next week.
Jacobs will present, “21st Century Diplomacy: A Consular Perspective,” on Monday, Oct. 20, in the Student Center Ballroom D. The lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free and a reception follows. The Charles D. Tenney Distinguished Lecture Series honors a former vice president and provost of SIU.
Jacobs, who grew up in Murphysboro and earned her bachelor’s degree in French from SIU, is teaching two courses in political science and a University Honors Program seminar class on major domestic and international issues. She is also serving as a consultant to the Center for International Education while at SIU.
Jacobs retired from the U.S. State Department in April after a 33-year career that included serving as ambassador to the west African nations of Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. From 2008 until her retirement, Jacobs was assistant secretary for consular affairs, responsible for the State Department’s second largest bureau with 12,000 employees worldwide and annual visa and passport revenues totaling $3 billion.
She holds a master’s degree in national security strategy from the National War College.