U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson spoke at the Batten School on in October on “The Challenges of Policy Change: US-Cuba Relations as a Case Study.”
Roberta Jacobson was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs on March 30, 2012. Prior to this appointment, Ms. Jacobson served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, with responsibility for regional political and economic issues, management and personnel, and regional security issues. In addition to her role as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, she was the senior coordinator for the Citizen Security initiatives in the Western Hemisphere. She served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Canada, Mexico and NAFTA issues in the Bureau from 2007 until 2012. Ms. Jacobson has also served as Coordinator for Cuban Affairs within the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, executive assistant to the Assistant Secretary (1993-94), special assistant to the Assistant Secretary (1989-1992), and at the National Security Council (1988).
Ms. Jacobson holds a Masters of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (1986) and a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University. She also worked for the United Nations from 1982-1984 in the Center for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs. She is the author of articles on “The Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women” in The United Nations and Human Rights (Oxford University Press; 1990) and “Liberation Theology as a Revolutionary Ideology.”
