Convocation: Joseph Melrose

Joseph Melrose, who served three decades in the Foreign Service, is the former U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone, where he helped broker a peace treaty. After leaving Sierra Leone in 2001, he was Task Force Coordinator for the post-September 11 task force with the Department of State, and later was a Senior Consultant on Counterterrorism for the Office of the Secretary of State’s Coordinator for Counterterrorism. He has also served as a senior advisor to the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations General Assembly for the State Department. As the president of the National Model United Nations board of directors, he oversees programs for more than 3,400 student delegates. Examining the legacy of former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen, one of the signers of the United Nations charter, Melrose's presentation was titled "US Role in the UN: From Stassen to the 21st Century."