For the past 30 years, Ambassador David Litt has dedicated his life to foreign service, and for the next year and possibly longer, he will be a diplomat in residence at Duke.
The majority of his service has centered around Middle East affairs, and his assignments have included serving as ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, the Deputy Chief of Mission in Niger and the director of Northern Gulf Affairs at the Department of State in Washington, D.C., where he oversaw the nation’s policy for Iran and Iraq.
His role at the University will be to primarily serve as a resource for students, faculty and alumni who are interested in a career in the Foreign Service. Although it appears unlikely that Litt will teach a course in the spring, he hopes to do so during the next academic year, if his assignment as a diplomat in residence at Duke is extended.
The Department of State assigns senior foreign service officials each year to act as diplomats in residence to various institutions of higher education throughout the nation in an effort to recruit intelligent individuals. They act as foreign service ambassadors to various regions—at Duke, Litt is to be a resource for a region that includes North Carolina, South Carolina and parts of Tennessee.
“I am delighted to have Ambassador Litt as a member of the Duke community this academic year,” said Gilbert Merkx, vice provost for international affairs. “The diplomat in residence program is a marvelous mechanism for bringing to campuses not only the international knowledge of a senior diplomat, but also access to a first-hand account of what it is like to have a career in the Foreign Service. Not only does Ambassador Litt bring these attributes to Duke, but also he is a Middle East expert who has spent the last two years dealing with Iraq issues. His presence at Duke is timely and relevant—a stroke of good fortune for us to take advantage of.”
Over the course of his extensive academic and professional career, Litt has become fluent in nine languages, one of which is Afghan-Persian, or Dari. “I very rapidly switched over to the Middle East [from my background in Western European affairs],” Litt said. “I was told what a wonderful place Kabul, Afghanistan is, and that if I ever got the chance to serve there, I should. So I did.”
Litt noted that he found his assignment in Afghanistan from 1978 to 1979 particularly interesting. “[It was a] challenging, professionally energizing environment to work in,” Litt said. “Tragic, too, in many ways—not the least of which was the kidnapping and murder of our ambassador.”
Litt also reflected on his service in Niger. “The government under a military president decided to democratize the country and asked the U.S. and United Nations to help,” he recalled. “We rolled up our sleeves and worked very hard to help the people of Niger develop a democracy, which is particularly hard to do in a country that is extremely poor, but they were determined to do it. It was very rewarding, very challenging and one of the most fulfilling experiences I’ve had in the Foreign Service.”
Litt, a Miami, Fla., native, specifically bid to come to Duke so that he could be near his alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and he said he is proud to be here. “Duke is a particularly prestigious institution,” he said.
Although there are certainly ways the Duke community and the greater Triangle area can benefit from Litt’s presence, there are also ways Litt can benefit from his time at the University.
“I hope that Ambassador Litt will find this a stimulating intellectual environment in which he can speak his mind,” Merkx said. “Here at Duke he can temporarily shed the role of representing the United States to enjoy the exchanges of ideas—the give and take—that mark this academic community.”
Katie Joyce, special assistant to the vice provost for international affairs and president of the American Institute of Afghan Studies, is also delighted by Litt’s presence on campus.
“He has managed to establish himself in a very timely fashion, which speaks to his organizational skills and ability to adapt,” Joyce said. “As a diplomat, he’s had to adapt to many different environments and familiar and comfortable in many places.”
Litt’s wife Beatrice, whom he met in Palermo, Italy, is a visiting instructor this semester with the romance studies department.
Officials hope Litt will help illuminate the community’s understanding of recent happenings in the Middle East through panel discussions, lectures, symposia and speeches for various programs. Litt is also open to meeting with individuals in one-on-one conferences.
“When I was an undergraduate at Harvard, Ambassador Ralph Bunche spent a period in residence,” Merkx said. “Getting to know him was an unforgettable part of my undergraduate experience. Duke students have the same chance with Ambassador Litt—he is easy to approach and very nice.”
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