Ambassador Reda Mansour is the Director of Global Resource Development at the Technion and served for 35 years in the Israeli diplomatic service. His senior postings included Ambassador to Brazil, Panama, and Ecuador; Deputy Ambassador to Portugal; Consul General in Atlanta; and Consul in San Francisco. At age 35, he became the youngest ambassador in Israel’s history and the first Druze career diplomat. Mansour holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Haifa, where he researched modern Syria, and a master’s degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Fluent in five languages, he has served as a visiting professor at Emory University, the University of Haifa, and Reichman University.

A longtime activist for peace, dialogue, and minority integration in Israeli society, Mansour was introduced to the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Sponsors at Morehouse College and has received the Israeli Prime Minister’s and President’s Award, as well as the AJC President’s Award. He co-founded and served as CEO of Star for Life Jerusalem, a Swedish organization dedicated to advancing the Palestinian community in East Jerusalem through social-emotional education, employment, and the creation of an IT ecosystem, and was elected to the Hebrew University Board of Governors in recognition of this work. His international honors include the International Heroes Award for Excellence, Brazil’s Juscelino Kubitschek Medal of Merit, and Panama’s Order of Vasco Núñez de Balboa; he was also named one of the “100 Most Influential Atlantans.” In addition to his diplomatic career, Mansour is an accomplished author of four poetry books, short stories, and We Who Shape Nations: Diplomacy in the Modern Age, and a recipient of the Haaretz Annual Short Story Award and the Miller Poetry Award.