*This event is in-person as well as virtual. Click here to register for the webinar.

Current and past students of Tulane are invited to join us in a seminar with three officials in the U.S. State Department, two of whom are Tulane alums.

J. Nathan Bland

Douglas Pitkin (BA, 1989)

Ruth Urry (MA, 1997)

J. Nathan Bland, Diplomat-in-Residence, Central South (LA, MS, AR, OK), U.S. Department of State

J. Nathan Bland is a career Foreign Service Officer with over seventeen years of experience in a wide variety of areas with the U.S. Department of State. He is currently the Diplomat-in-Residence based at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA where he is responsible for recruiting the best and brightest candidates from diverse backgrounds within Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas for U.S. Department of State career and student program opportunities.

His overseas postings include an assignment as the Political and Economic Section Chief at the U.S. Embassy in Belmopan, Belize. While there he also served as the Acting Deputy Chief of Mission for nearly a year. He was an Assistant General Services Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City serving as the Embassy’s primary Contracting Officer and overseeing logistics for VIP visits. Prior to that he was the Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, and his first assignment was as a Consular Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Shenyang, China. Domestically, he led U.S. Government multilateral engagement on marine environmental protection issues in the Caribbean and ocean dumping during his assignment in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. He began his career with the U.S. Department of State as a Presidential Management Fellow working in the Public Affairs Office for the East Asia and Pacific Affairs Bureau.

Nathan completed Executive Leadership Training from Harvard Business School as part of the Secretary’s Leadership Seminar. He graduated from Seton Hall University's School of Diplomacy and International Relations with an M.A. in Diplomacy and International Relations and an M.A. in Asian Studies. Nathan wrote his M.A. thesis on China’s efforts to stabilize the Xinjiang region drawing from his own experience living and working in Xinjiang for 1½ years. He holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Louisiana College, and also successfully completed the State Department’s Foreign Service Economic Studies course.

Douglas Pitkin (BA, 1989), Director, Bureau of Budget and Planning, U.S. Department of State

Douglas Pitkin is the Director of the Department of State’s Bureau of Budget & Planning (BP), which is responsible for developing the $25 billion diplomatic engagement budget, overseeing strategic planning and performance management of those resources, as well funds control of all Department resources. The BP Director also serves as the Department’s Performance Improvement Officer.

Ruth Urry (MA, 1997), Foreign Service Officer, U.S. Department of State

Ruth Urry has served as a Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. Department of State since 2003. She began her career as Deputy Press Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Manila, followed by overseas postings in Bogota, Guatemala, Santo Domingo, and Mexico, where she served as regional public affairs officer at the Consulate General of the United States in Monterrey, with responsibility for public affairs at the U.S. Consulates in Matamoros and Nuevo Laredo. Her domestic assignments include a tour at the U.S. Mission to the Organization of American States, the Operations Center, and as Division Chief of the U.S. Speaker Program in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. She holds a B.A. in Spanish Literature from Reed College, an M.A. in Latin American Studies from Tulane University, and an M.A. in Government from Georgetown University.