Ambassador Cynthia P. Schneider, PhD

Ambassador Cynthia P. Schneider, PhD teaches, publishes, and organizes initiatives in the field of cultural diplomacy, with a focus on relations with the Muslim world. For the Brookings Institution she leads the Arts and Culture Initiative within the Saban Center for Middle East Policy.  

Dr. Schneider also has consulted in the area of cultural diplomacy for ADACH (Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage). Professor Schneider teaches courses in Diplomacy and Culture in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where, from 1984-2005, she was a member of the art history faculty, and published on Rembrandt and seventeenth-century Dutch art. She also organized exhibitions at the National Gallery of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.  

From 1998-2001 she served as U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands, during which time she led initiatives in cultural diplomacy, biotechnology, cyber security, and education.   

In 2001 she was awarded the Office of the Secretary of Defense Exceptional Public Service Award. Dr. Schneider serves on the Board of Directors of Wesley Theological Seminary and Imagine Schools, and the Advisory Boards of the Institute of Cultural Diplomacy, the Sustainable Preservation Initiative, Books Without Borders, and Singapore Technologies Telemedia (ST Telemedia) Eircom Advisory Board. Schneider received her B.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University.