Officer Information
President and Agent
Dr. I. William Zartman Jacob Blaustein Professor of International Organizations and Conflict Resolution and former Director of African Studies, School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University. Founding President, American Institute for Maghrib Studies (AIMS) 1984-1996. Founding Executive Secretary, then President, Middle East Studies Association (MESA).
Formerly, Intelligence Officer, Fleet Intelligence Unit, Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean at N.A.S. Kenitra, 1958-60. Trainer 1965 and Evaluator 1967 for the Peace Corps in Morocco.
Author of two books on Morocco and three on North Africa. Co-author/editor of one book on Morocco and seven books on North Africa. Commander, Ouissam Alaouite, delivered by King Mohammed VI; Doctor honoris causa, Catholic University of Louvain. PhD Yale, 1956.
As a US Foreign Service Officer he had a 24-year career in North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, last serving as Chargé d'Affaires of the American Embassy in Luxembourg. After leaving the diplomatic service in 2002, he worked as a consultant based in Brussels, organizing seminars for the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, part of National Defense University. He wrote for various American and European publications, and was spokesman for Democrats Abroad Belgium during the 2008 US Presidential campaign. He has been TALIM Resident Director in Tangier since July 2010.
Vice President
The Hon. Edward M. Gabriel Ambassador to Morocco from November 1997 to March 2001. President and CEO, The Gabriel Co, LLC. Ambassador Gabriel currently advises multinational corporations on international affairs, has been active in advising the Administration on Mideast policy and is a Visiting Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is Vice-Chairman of the American Task Force for Lebanon. Previously he was Vice President in charge of corporate affairs for the Concord Corporation and President and CEO of the Madison Public Affairs Group, Inc. Elected as Vice President 11/07.
Treasurer
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , 6713 Beddoo Street, Alexandria, VA 22306-6607. Since 2005 Bureau Environmental Advisor, US Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Africa. Formerly Manager, USAID East Asia and Pacific Environmental Initiative 2000-2005; Tropical Forestry and Biological Diversity Advisor, USAID Bureau for Africa1990-2000; designed and evaluated programs in Tunisia and Morocco among many other countries for USAID, Peace Corps and voluntary organizations as a Program Coordinator for Food Aid and Voluntary Assistance 1986-1990and Africa Program Manager 1981-86 with USDA Forest Service International Programs;. Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco 1970-74. Currently President, Friends of Morocco. Elected to the board 12/05 for three year term and again for second term 12/08-12/11. Elected Treasurer 11/2011.
Secretary
Dr. Diane Ponasik Retired from the U.S. Agency for International Development where she worked in many capacities between 1977 and 2002. At present she is a docent at the Sackler-Freer Galleries. She was General Development Officer in Skopje, Macedonia, 1999-2002; Supervisory Democracy Officer, Port au Prince, Haiti, 1997-1999; Chief, Institutional Development Support, Cairo, Egypt 1992-1997 and Chief of the Evaluation Unit for Asia/Near East Bureau in Washington.D.C. 1987-1990. Before that she served in Yemen and Mali. She was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco, 1965-1967, B.A. French, College of William and Mary, 1960; M.A. Anthropology, U. of Michigan, 1972; PhD in Economic Anthropology , State University of New York, Binghamton, 1978. Fluent in Moroccan Arabic and French.
In 2005 Dr. Ponasik published a historical novel about Morocco, entitled Tangier, a novel. It is set at the Legation in Tangier and covers the period 1880-1912, just before the establishment of the French Protectorate. Elected as Secretary 4/2005.
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