Former Ukrainian ambassador Marie Yovanovitch will share her insights on the current crisis in Ukraine, as well as experiences from her 33-year career in the U.S. foreign service, during an appearance on Nov. 15 as part of UB’s Distinguished Speakers Series.

Her talk will take place at 7 p.m. in the Mainstage Theatre in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.

Attendees can submit their questions for Yovanovitch in advance.

Yovanovitch served three times as a U.S. ambassador: to the Kyrgyz Republic (2005-08), the Republic of Armenia (2008-2011) and, most recently, Ukraine (2016-19). She retired from the foreign service in 2020 and is currently a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a non-resident fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University.

Born into a family that survived both Soviet and Nazi terror before emigrating to the U.S., Yovanovitch rose to the top of her profession in the crucible of the former USSR. Following early assignments in Moscow, London, Ottawa and Mogadishu, she served as deputy director of the Russia desk and then, as a career member of the senior foreign service, she was named deputy chief in Ukraine.

Within the Department of State, Yovanovitch has worked on the Russia desk, the Office of European Security Affairs and the Operations Center. She also served as dean of the School of Language Studies at the Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State, and as the deputy commandant and international adviser at the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy, National Defense University. 

Yovanovitch earned the Senior Foreign Service Performance Award eight times and the state department’s Superior Honor Award on nine occasions. She is the recipient of two Presidential Distinguished Service Awards and the Secretary’s Diplomacy in Human Rights Award.

In early 2022, her memoir, “Lessons from the Edge,” was an instant New York Times best-seller.

Tickets for Yovanovitch’s lecture range from $25 to $45 and can be purchased online through Ticketmaster or in person at the Center for the Arts Box Office from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

For more information about the series, visit the series’ website.