World Minded: Mark Zimmer '99
W&M Major:
International
Relations
Current Employment:
Foreign Service
Officer, United States Department of State
Hometown:
Front Royal, VA
What was your career path after
leaving William & Mary?
I spent a little over
two years with a government contractor in the Washington, D.C. area after
graduation. I gained a lot of good experience in project management and
leadership. I entered the Foreign Service in June 2002. I have been posted to
Shenyang, China, Washington, D.C., Singapore, and Nairobi, Kenya, where I was
part of our Somalia Unit. I am now the Spokesperson at the American Institute
in Taiwan.
How did your time at William
& Mary prepare you for a career in the Foreign Service?
I would cite critical
thinking as the most valuable skill I developed at the College. While the
process was not always painless, the analytical skills I honed in Williamsburg
have served me well as a Foreign Service Officer.
In the course of an assignment as a Political Officer, I was required to independently determine what information is most valuable to the policymaking community, and then discern how best to acquire and report that information. As a Consular Officer, I was required to quickly decide which visa cases needed more analysis, and which did not present a potential threat to our national interests. In my Public Diplomacy assignments, I am charged with figuring out which audiences are the most crucial, and how best to deliver messages to those audiences.
No day as a Foreign Service Officer is ever the same, and development of my analytical skills is something for which I thank the professors at William & Mary.
What was your favorite
international experience at William & Mary?
My most remarkable experience
was not overseas but in Williamsburg, where I took a course on the
disintegration of Yugoslavia, taught by Dr. Mihailo Crnobrnja. Dr.
Crnobrnja, who had been a Yugoslavian official, was the Borgenicht
Scholar-in-Residence during the 1998-1999 school year.
The opportunity to study a developing crisis in real-time, under the tutelage of a true subject matter expert, was tremendous. I remember vividly Dr. Crnobrnja coming into class bleary-eyed and upset, having been up all night monitoring developments, mostly negative, in the former Yugoslavia. This was not a history course, but a discussion of this far-reaching crisis, as it broke, seen through the eyes of someone deeply involved in the event.
William & Mary’s ability to attract that caliber of instructor was something for which I am grateful.
What is the most fulfilling
aspect of working with international audiences?
In addition to the
privilege of serving our country, I would point to the gratification I get
when, in the course of my Public Diplomacy work, I am able to truly make inroads
with foreign audiences.
I find that a large percentage of the negative
perceptions of the United States are based not on fact and actual disagreements
with our policy, but on misunderstandings of what the U.S. is doing and why
we’re doing it. Those “Aha!" moments, whether they come after a conversation
with a Somali youth in the desert in northern Kenya or an intellectual in
Taiwan, affirm the value of the outreach on which we spend a great deal of time
and effort.
What advice would you give to
current students interested in an international career?
I always highlight the fact that the Foreign
Service is not necessarily looking for scholars of international relations, but
for well-rounded people who can perform in a wide variety of environments and
contexts.
I would encourage current students to ensure they are pursuing a diverse set of interests, both inside and outside of the classroom.
This interview has been reprinted from the Spring 2013 issue of the World Minded magazine.
