Michael (Mike) Hurley started his professional career as a Meridian Program Officer 30 years ago. After working with Meridian for 7 years, he joined the Foreign Service and served at several posts including Russia, Hungary, Indonesia and Malaysia. His three tours of duty in Russia spanned a total of 13 years and ended with his last assignment as Public Affairs Officer in Moscow. Not surprisingly, his Russian is fluent; he has a working knowledge of German, Hungarian and Indonesian. Domestically, he was the Director of the Office of Press and Public Diplomacy for Europe and most recently he has been working as a Senior Inspector and Coordinator of the Public Diplomacy Division in the Office of the Inspector General. He obtained his B.A. in Russian Area Studies at the University of Washington and his M.A. in Soviet Studies at George Washington University.