Ambassador L. Paul Bremer

From May 2003 to June 2004, Ambassador Bremer served as the Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority, spearheading the Coalition's program to start rebuilding Iraq. His best-selling book, "My Year in Iraq: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope" tells of the challenges he and his colleagues faced there.

Ambassador Bremer's mission to Iraq marked his return to government after a 14 year career in business and 23 years in the State Department. Prior to his assignment to Iraq, Ambassador Bremer had been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Marsh Crisis Consulting Company, a crisis management firm owned by the financial services firm Marsh & McLennan. From 1989 to 2000, he was Managing Director of Kissinger Associates, a strategic consulting firm headed by former Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger.

During this period, Ambassador Bremer was also a director of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Akzo Nobel NV, Vivid Technologies, Conner Peripherals, the Harvard Business School Club of New York and The Netherland-America Foundation. He served as a Trustee of the Economic Club of New York and on the International Advisory Boards of two Japanese firms, Komatsu and Chugai Pharmaceuticals. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Ambassador Bremer's 23-year career in the State Department spanned eight Presidencies and during this time, he served as Special Assistant or Executive Assistant to six Secretaries of State. His overseas assignments included service at the Embassies in Afghanistan and Malawi and service as Deputy Ambassador at the American Embassy in Norway. President Reagan named him as Ambassador to the Netherlands in 1983 where he served for three years. Ambassador Bremer was Ambassador at Large for Counter Terrorism in the second Reagan Administration, charged with formulating and implementing the nations counter-terrorism policies.

Ambassador Bremer is recognized as one of the world's leading experts on terrorism and homeland security. In September 1999, the Speaker of the House of Representatives appointed him Chairman of the bipartisan National Commission on Terrorism. In June 2002, President Bush appointed Ambassador Bremer to the President's Homeland Security Advisory Council. He has also served on the National Academy of Science Commission examining the role of science and technology in countering terrorism and he chaired a Heritage Foundation study, "Defending the Homeland."

Ambassador Bremer has received numerous awards for his public service. On December 14, 2004, President Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nations highest civilian award, for his service in Iraq. He was also presented with the Department of Defense award for Distinguished Public Service and the Nixon Library honored him with the "Victory of Freedom Award" for "demonstrating leadership and working towards peace and freedom." During his time in government, Ambassador Bremer received the State Department Superior Honor Award, two Presidential Meritorious Service Awards and the Distinguished Honor Award from the Secretary of State.

Ambassador Bremer is the Founder and President of the Lincoln/Douglass Scholarship Foundation, a Washington-based non-profit organization that provides high school scholarships to inner city youths. Ambassador Bremer received his B.A. from Yale University, a CEP from the Institut D'Etudes Politiques of the University of Paris, and an MBA from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. He has an Honorary Doctor of Law degree from Ave Maria University. His languages are French, Dutch, and Norwegian.