New Director Named to USC Center on Public Diplomacy

Journalism professor Philip Seib has been appointed the new director of the Center as of July 1.

Seib will continue the work of professor Geoffrey Wiseman, who is stepping down as director to resume his full-time faculty teaching position in the School of International Relations at the University of Southern California.

"Since its inception, the Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School has become the definitive destination for practitioners and international leaders in public diplomacy, while pursuing an innovative and cutting-edge research agenda," said USC Annenberg Dean Ernest J. Wilson III. "Geoff Wiseman provided key leadership at an important moment in the life of the center, so that today we are widely consulted by government agencies, non-government organizations and private firms from around the world. USC Annenberg is proud of our role in these efforts and we are dedicated to advancing this important field."

"There is no better time or place for innovation, leadership and debate in public diplomacy than at USC's Center on Public Diplomacy," said Howard Gillman, dean of the College of Letters, Arts & Sciences. "The partnership between the Annenberg School for Communication and USC College continues to bring together prominent scholars from each of the schools to tackle challenges of global importance, including past director Geoff Wiseman and incoming director Phil Seib."

As a professor of journalism and public diplomacy, Seib has concentrated on the linkages between media, war and terrorism. He also holds an appointment as a Professor of International Relations and is a prolific author. Seib is the author or editor of 18 books, including New Media and the New Middle East and The Al Jazeera Effect, published in 2007 and 2008, respectively. In September, his newest book, Toward a New Public Diplomacy: Redirecting U.S. Foreign Policy, will be published. He is also the series editor of the Palgrave Macmillan Series in International Political Communication and is co-editor of the journal Media, War, and Conflict, published by Sage.

In addition, Seib has served as USC Annenberg’s principal project director and liaison to American University in Dubai, assisting the Mohammed Bin Rashid School for Communication with curriculum development.

In 2008, USC received one of four inaugural Benjamin Franklin Awards for Public Diplomacy from the U.S. State Department in recognition of the university’s teaching, training and research in public diplomacy.

"Under Geoff Wiseman's directorship, CPD has become an ambitious and productive leader in the public diplomacy research and scholarship community," said Wilson. "We are thankful for his commitment and dedication, and pleased he will continue to teach in the School of International Relations."