Finn Helena - USA

Dr. Helena Finn is a Visiting Scholar affiliated with the Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University.  A career diplomat of the Department of State, she served as Minister-Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin (2007 - 2010) and as Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv (2003 - 2007). She has been the Cyrus Vance Fellow in Diplomatic Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York (2002 - 2003). Her seminal article on public diplomacy appeared in the November - December 2003 issue of Foreign Affairs. She has also been Director of the Turkish Studies Program at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy (2002).  

As Acting Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (2000 - 2001), Dr. Finn was responsible for the State Department's global academic, professional and youth exchanges, including Fulbright and the International Visitor program. She also oversaw the Office of Cultural Heritage and Preservation.

Helena Finn has served overseas as the Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey (1997 - 2000).  Prior to that, she was the Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Vienna, Austria (1995 - 1997).    She was the Public Affairs Officer and Director of the Amerika Haus in Frankfurt-Main, Germany (1992 - 1995). She has been the Desk Officer for Greece, Turkey and Cyprus (1989 - 1991), following cultural affairs tours in Lahore and Islamabad, Pakistan (1984 - 1989).  Her first diplomatic assignment was to the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey (1981 -1984).