Richard Williamson

Richard Williamson is a Senior Director of Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategy firm. Drawing on his deep international experience, with a particular focus on Africa and the Middle East, Ambassador Williamson will provide ASG’s clients strategic advice and assistance from both Washington and Chicago. Williamson, former Ambassador to the United Nations, is based in Chicago, where he is Senior Fellow for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and Visiting Professor of International Relations at Northwestern University’s Buffet Center. He is also the founder of Salisbury Strategies LLP, a consulting firm focusing on international business and regulatory issues. Previously, Williamson held foreign policy positions under Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, including as Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs, Assistant Secretary of State, Ambassador to the United Nations and Ambassador the UN Commission on Human Rights. He is active in a wide variety of civic organizations, serving on the board of directors of the International Republican Institute; the board of the Committee in Support of Russian Civil Society; a member of the advisory committee for the International Human Rights Center, DePaul University, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Williamson has authored seven books and edited three. In addition, he has written more than 175 articles in professional and popular periodicals. Williamson received an A.B., cum laude, in 1971 from Princeton University. He received a J.D. in 1974 from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was executive editor of the Virginia Journal of International Law.