Vicki Adair, the Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Lilongwe, is a relative newcomer to Malawi but has spent the past few years serving with the former United States Information Service in other posts around the continent, such as Pretoria, Kinshasa, and Lagos.

Adair joined the Foreign Service in 1995, transferring from the Department of the Army, where she worked as a civilian attorney for 11 years in Japan and Germany. Earlier she served several years in the military, first as an Army broadcaster, then an Air Force journalist, and finally as a Navy lawyer, living in Taiwan, Panama, and Japan.

Her educational background is as eclectic a mix as her work history. Adair received her BA in Zoology from Pomona College in Claremont, California, in 1972. After her tour in the Army, she returned to school, earning a joint MA in Journalism and Political Science from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, in 1981. She studied law at the American University Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C., and received her JD in December 1983.

In her spare time she enjoys going on safaris and studying primate behavior, an interest developed while volunteering in Kinshasa at a sanctuary for orphaned bonobos (pygmy chimpanzees).

Aubrey Hooks is the Special Coordinator for the African Crisis Response Initiative. He served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of the Congo from 1996 until 1999. He served concurrently as Charge d'Affaires in the Central African Republic 1998-1999. Immediately prior to his service as Ambassador, he attended the State Department's year-long Senior Seminar.

Ambassador Hooks joined the Foreign Service in 1971. He served as a junior officer trainee at the Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, from 1971-1973. Subsequent to Polish language training, he served as a Consular Officer in Warsaw, Poland. From 1976-1978 he worked in the Department of State as a Cultural Affairs Officer with responsibility for cultural and educational exchanges with Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. Following training in economics, he was assigned as Economic Officer in Ankara, Turkey, from 1979-1983. After a year of university training in economics, Ambassador Hooks headed the Economic Section in the Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He was then given Hebrew language training and reassigned to the Embassy in Tel Aviv. He attended the NATO Defense College (79th Class) in Rome in 1991-1992. In 1992 he was a member of the U.S. Delegation to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, which took place in Helsinki, Finland. From 1992-1995, Ambassador Hooks was the Economic Counselor in the Embassy in Warsaw, Poland.

Ambassador Hooks was born in Mullins, South Carolina, on May 18, 1948. He obtained an A.A. degree from Brevard College in Brevard, North Carolina, in 1968 and a B.A. degree from the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1970. He subsequently studied at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He obtained an M.A. degree in economics from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1984. Ambassador Hooks speaks French, Hebrew, Polish, Turkish, and Spanish.

Ambassador Hooks is married to the former Jean Wilkinson. The Hooks have three sons and three daughters. They currently reside in Woodbridge, Virginia.

EDUCATION:
Master of Arts, Education -- 1995
Concordia University, River Forest, Illinois

Bachelor of Arts -- 1986
Chicago State University, Chicago, Illinois

SMILE Program (Science Math Initiative Learning Enhancement) 1994 -- Present,
Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois

Science Institute, Columbia College, Chicago, Illinois 1999 -- Present

EXPERIENCE:

Present

Science Teacher, grades seven & eight -- Mount Greenwood School, Chicago, Illinois
Develop and implement a science curriculum of physical and biological science.
Chairman of the science department, science fair coordinator, science club adviser, regional science fair committee member, city science fair committee member, state of Illinois science fair committee member, and student council adviser.

1994-1995

Mathematics Instructor -- Robert H. Lawrence Elementary School for Math and Science, Chicago, Illinois
Develop and institute mathematical concepts and principles for the enhancement of upper grade level students. Chairman of the math department and math club adviser.

1994

Preschool Teacher -- Charles Brownell Elementary School, Chicago, Illinois
Instructed preschool students on the fundamental concepts of elementary mathematics, reading readiness, communication, nutrition, and socialization.

1980-1994

Vision Education Specialist -- Plano Child Development Center, Chicago, Illinois
Created and implemented various programs using computer-aided programs to identify and measure educational deficiencies resulting from physiological and psychological abnormalities. Assisted in the therapeutic rehabilitation of the students to improve their abilities to learn. Conducted workshops for educators and parents.

Vision Therapist/Optician (certified by the American Board of Opticians -- Plano Child Development Center, Chicago, Illinois
Assist the optometrist in the staff training of software used to record and measure various statistical analyses.

1985 - Present

Public Affairs Officer (Captain) -- U.S. Army Reserve
Chief Escort Officer -- Escort and/or supervise the escort of national media representatives within the Area of Operations. Escort duties include arranging for interviews and site visits, preparing itineraries, arranging for transportation and security requirements, and preparing for, and responding to, media queries.

ACTIVITIES:

Girl Scout Leader -- Girl Scouts of Chicago
Worship Leader, Youth Adviser -- Bethlehem Lutheran Church
Room Parent, Parent Teachers Association board member -- Kellogg Electronic Research Academy
Board Member, Parental Involvement Project -- Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois

ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

First Class Girl Scout -- 1981
Distinguished Military Student -- 1985

John Lundin is the Public Diplomacy Adviser, U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM), Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii. He advises the Commander-in-Chief, USPACOM, on public diplomacy issues and on foreign public opinion and attitudes as they relate to USPACOM programs or the disposition of USPACOM forces.

Asia and media affairs have been the focus of much of John Lundin's career with the Department of State and the former U.S. Information Agency. He served recently as the deputy press attach?in the American Embassy in Tokyo, working in a press office which not only supported the Ambassador and Embassy staff, but also a vast array of high-level visitors from Washington. In addition to a total of six years in Japan, John served three years in China as consul for press and cultural affairs at the American Consulate General in Guangzhou. Other Chinese assignments included two tours of duty on Taiwan, for a total of six years on the island. He served in the early 1980s as chief of the Kaohsiung Branch of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and as spokesman for AIT in Taipei.

Asia has also been a key theme in a number of John Lundin's Washington assignments. Before being assigned to Japan, he served as senior policy officer for East Asia and the Pacific in the former U.S. Information Agency's office of policy and guidance. Prior to that he served as chief of the China Branch of the Voice of America and as chief of VOA's Indonesian Service. In 1997, John Lundin was detailed to the China desk of the Department of State.

John Lundin's overseas experience includes Europe where he served as press officer in the American Embassy in Copenhagen in the late 1970s. His public affairs concerns included NATO issues and arranging tours of NATO facilities throughout Europe for members of the Danish parliament and for Danish journalists. Following Denmark, John Lundin served in Washington, managing the economic speakers program for European posts.

John Lundin grew up in Madison, New Jersey. He earned his bachelor's degree from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1971 and his master's degree from Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C., in 1973. In 1966, John Lundin enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving three years on active duty in the field artillery and later personnel services. John Lundin was born on Leyte island in the Philippines in 1946.

Major Riley, a native of Quincy, Massachusetts, is a 1989 graduate of Norwich University, the Military College of Vermont, with a Bachelor of Arts in History and a minor in English. In 1992 he received his Juris Doctorate from Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Massachusetts. Prior to graduating from law school, Major Riley participated in the Defenders Program at Malden District Court where he was able to represent indigent criminal defendants under the supervision of an advising professor. He is a member of the Bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Major Riley completed Officer Candidate School and was commissioned in 1991. Following the completion of his legal studies, Major Riley returned to active duty in January 1993. He graduated from the Basic School in July 1993 and from the Naval Justice School in October 1993.

Major Riley's first assignment was as a Trial Counsel at the Joint Law Center, Marine Corps Air Station, New River, North Carolina. During that period, Major Riley prosecuted a variety of courts-martial ranging from theft to child molestation. In addition, he conducted dozens of administrative separation boards for drugs and pattern of misconduct. In November of 1994, he was assigned as a Legal Assistance Officer. Serving in that capacity, Major Riley consulted hundreds of clients and assisted many more with wills and powers of attorney.

From November 1995 until May 1998, Major Riley served as the Staff Judge Advocate to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. During that period, the 24th MEU completed two training workup periods and two deployments to the Mediterranean and Arabian Gulf. While deployed, Major Riley participated in operations in the Adriatic Sea and Arabian Gulf. He also participated in numerous exercises serving as a liaison officer and as an exercise umpire. Major Riley next served as the II Marine Expeditionary Force Operational Law Officer during COOPERATIVE OSPREY 1998, a major event for the Partnership for Peace Program.

Major Riley completed the 1998-1999 academic year of study at the Amphibious Warfare School, Marine Corps University, Quantico, Virginia. He reported to his current position with the Defense Institute of International Legal Studies in May 1999 as a Country Program Manager responsible for 27 countries.

Major Riley has been awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, and is authorized to wear the Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon, the National Defense Service Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (with one bronze star), the Armed Forces Service Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Sea Service Deployment Ribbon (with one bronze star), and the NATO Medal.

Daniel Wartko is an international policy specialist for the United States Coast Guard in the Office of the Commandant. In this capacity, Mr. Wartko advises Coast Guard offices on international engagement and coordinates Coast Guard international activities with the Department of State, the Department of Transportation, and U.S. Embassies around the world. Mr. Wartko's geographic focus is the Asia-Pacific region (including the Russian Far East), and the U.S. Central Command AOR (Area of Operations).

Mr. Wartko has represented the Coast Guard at the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Regional Forum's working group on Confidence and Security-Building Measures in 1998 and 1999. He also represents the Coast Guard on the Department of Transportation's International Policy Council and coordinates the triannual meetings of the service's International Advisory Group.

Mr. Wartko has worked for the Coast Guard since 1991, on the Commandant's International Affairs Staff and at the National Maritime Center.

A 1990 graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo (B.A.), Mr. Wartko received a Master's Degree in International Affairs in 1993 from The George Washington University's Elliot School of International Affairs in Washington, D.C.