Lunch Series

2023

March 27

Joanne Cummings, Baylor BIC Faculty and Adjunct Professor of Political Science 

"Life as a female diplomat in the Middle East"

Joanne Cummings teaches in the BIC and in Political Science. She has also been instrumental in the development of an interfaith minor here at Baylor. A retired diplomat, her experience is wide-ranging. She was most recently the Foreign Policy Advisor (POLAD) to CJTF-OIR, based in Baghdad.  She has also served extensively in the Middle East, North Africa, and East Africa

As the daughter of a diplomat, she was raised in Lebanon, lived in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, finished high school in Tehran, Iran, and graduated from university in Beirut, Lebanon before gaining an MA from the University of Texas at Austin.  In the Department of State and in the private sector, she has worked in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, Jerusalem, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Ethiopia, and Micronesia as well as nine years working regionally from Morocco through Pakistan.  Ms. Cummings was previously Deputy Chief of Mission in the Federated States of Micronesia.  Among her earlier Foreign Service positions are Pol/Econ Section Chief, Refugee Coordinator, Economic Section Chief, POLAD (JSOC and MND-S), Political Officer, and Consular Officer.  She speaks Arabic and French.