Ambassador Rozanne L. Ridgway, Chair

Ambassador Ridgway was elected Chairman of CNA’s Board of Trustees in December 2008 and has served on the board since 1992. Ambassador Ridgway served 32 years as a career Foreign Service officer with the U.S. Department of State, holding positions such as: Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs, Ambassador to the German Democratic Republic, Ambassador to Finland, Ambassador for Oceans and Fisheries Affairs, and Counselor of the Department of State. Following her retirement from the Foreign Service, Ambassador Ridgway was President and, subsequently, Co-Chair of the Atlantic Council of the United States (1989-1996). Her service on corporate boards includes Emerson Electric Company, on which she currently serves; and Sara Lee Corporation, Boeing, 3M, Manpower, Union Carbide, Bell Atlantic, Citicorp, and Berlitz, from which she is retired. Ambassador Ridgway is also a retired trustee of the National Geographic Society.

She is a trustee of three funds of the American Funds family of mutual funds. She is a member of the board of the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs and the Senior Living Foundation of the American Foreign Service, and a Life Trustee of her alma mater, Hemline University in St. Paul, MN. Ambassador Ridgway is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a fellow of the American Academy of Diplomacy and the national Academy of Public Administration. She has received numerous awards and decorations including: the Presidential Citizens Medal, the Presidential Distinguished Performance Award (twice), the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Performance Award, and has been decorated by the governments of Finland and Germany. In addition, she holds honorary degrees from Hamline University, George Washington University, University of Helsinki, Elizabethtown College, Albright College, Hood College, the College of William and Mary, The Citadel, and Illinois College. She was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1998.