Thursday April 3
12:15 - 1:20 PM
Policy Atrium, Van Munching Hall
Claudio Bisogniero was born in Rome, on July 2 1954. After graduating with a Degree in Political Science from the University of Rome (1976) with a dissertation in International Economics, he completed his military service as an Officer in the Italian Army in 1976-77. He entered the Italian Foreign Service in May 1978. In September of 1981, he was posted to the Embassy of Italy in Beijing as First Secretary for Economic and Commercial Affairs with responsibility also for bilateral and multilateral development co-operation programs with China. From 1984 to 1989, he served at the Permanent Mission of Italy to NATO in Brussels, as Counselor with primary focus on disarmament and international security issues. He also served as a Delegate to the Senior Political Committee. In 1989, he returned to Rome and was assigned to the Office of the Diplomatic Adviser to the President of the Republic , Francesco Cossiga, where he remained until April 1992. In this task, he covered a wide range of international issues, both bilateral and multilateral, relevant to all aspects of the international activity of the Italian President.
From 1992 to 1996, he served at the Embassy of Italy in Washington, D.C. as First Counselor for Economic and Commercial Affairs, with special focus also on financial issues, relations with the IMF and World Bank, think tanks, and defense-industry co-operation. In 1996, he was assigned to the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations in New York, with primary responsibility for political affairs and UN reform. During this period he served as a member of the Italian delegation in the UN Security Council in 1996 and as a member of the Italian delegations to the 50th, 51st, 52nd and 53rd UN General Assemblies. In 1999, he returned to the home office, serving first with the Division of Personnel and later with the Office of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as direct collaborator to the Secretary General.
In February 2002, he was appointed Deputy Director General for Political Multilateral Affairs - Deputy Political Director - responsible for NATO, United Nations, G8, disarmament, OSCE, anti-terrorism, and human rights. In June 2005 he was named Director General for the Americas, with responsibility for the relations of Italy with the United States and Canada, as well as with all the countries of Latin America. In October 2007, he took up his duties as NATO Deputy Secretary General, responsible for a variety of security and strategic issues on the Alliance’s agenda; he also followed the NATO Summits in Bucharest, Strasbourg/Kiel and Lisbon, and worked actively in the preparatory phase for the 2012 NATO Summit in Chicago.Named Ambassador of Italy to the United States, Ambassador Bisogniero presented his credentials to President Obama on January 18, 2012.
Claudio Bisogniero is married to Laura Denise Noce Benigni Olivieri; they have a daughter and a son. Hobbies and personal interests include classical music, reading, sailing, flying.
The Maryland Global Leaders Series is a joint effort of the UMD School of Public Policy, and Office of International Affairs.
