ELON COLLEGE – Julia Chang Bloch, the United States’ first Asian American ambassador, will spend the week of Feb. 28 at Elon College under the auspices of the Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows program.
Bloch served as ambassador to Nepal from 1989 to 1993. During her tenure she led diplomatic efforts to assist Nepal’s transition to democracy following a popular revolution. Since 1996, she has been president of the United States-Japan Foundation, which provides programs in education, policy studies and communications.
She began her government service as a Peace Corps volunteer in Sabah, Malaysia, and later joined the staff of the U.S. Senate as chief minority counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs. In 1977, she was appointed deputy director of the Office of African Affairs of the International Information Agency. Four years later, she joined the Agency for International Development and served in several roles.
Bloch received a bachelor’s degree at the University of California, Berkeley and a master’s degree from Harvard University.
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