Barry A. Sanders Named CPD Advisory Board Chair

CPD is pleased to announce that Barry A. Sanders will serve as the new chair of the CPD Advisory Board. Sanders succeeds Mel Levine, who served as chair from 2013–2019 and will continue to serve on the CPD Advisory Board.

“We are delighted that Barry will step into this leadership role on CPD’s Advisory Board as we look toward the future of our dynamic, evolving field," says CPD Director Jay Wang. "We are grateful to Mel for his distinctive contributions to the public diplomacy community and continued presence on our Board, and we look forward to this next chapter in CPD leadership."

Sanders is a faculty member of both law and communication at UCLA, and the author of two books: American Avatar: The United States in the Global Imagination (Potomac Books, 2011) and The Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games (Arcadia Publishing, 2013). Sanders practiced international corporate law at the global law firm of Latham & Watkins from 1970 to 2007. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Pacific Council on International Policy. He served eight years as president of the Board of Commissioners of the Recreation and Parks Department of the City of Los Angeles and as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He is founder and chairman emeritus of the Los Angeles Parks Foundation, served as Chairman of the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games from 2003 to 2017, and was director of LA2028, the group that successfully bid to bring the Olympics to Los Angeles in 2028. He has been chairman of the board and president of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and chairman of the Los Angeles Public Library Foundation.

“Public diplomacy has moved to the forefront of international strategies and tactics," says Sanders. The Center on Public Diplomacy leads all others in giving analysis and voice to the practice of this critical discipline. I am honored to be associated with Jay Wang and my colleagues on its Advisory Board.”

Sanders has authored two issues of CPD Perspectives in Public Diplomacy: "A Strategic Approach to U.S. Public Diplomacy" and "Organizing Public Diplomacy: A Layered System."

Sanders has served as a CPD Advisory Board member since 2010. His full bio can be found here.

About the CPD Advisory Board
The USC Center on Public Diplomacy’s Advisory Board comprises prominent figures in various fields related to public diplomacy who are invited to serve for a period of three years. The CPD Advisory Board provides support and strategic guidance to CPD staff regarding the development of the Center as an international resource. For a full list of board members, please click here.