Ambassador Asif Chaudhry became the Vice President for International Programs (IP) at Washington State University in June 2015 and Vice Chancellor of WSU’s Pullman campus in 2022. He is the university’s chief international relations officer and is responsible for IP’s role in carrying out WSU’s mission of global engagement. Ambassador Chaudhry manages WSU’s extensive internationalization program that focuses on establishing strategic partnerships with governments and educational institutions across the globe.
He oversees cross-functional areas of IP that are responsible for international student and scholar services, education abroad and exchange programs, undergraduate admissions for international students, and international research for faculty and scholars. The Office of International Programs provides services to international students and scholars at WSU who hail from over 100 countries. The goals are for all students, at home and abroad, to have a global experience while at WSU and graduate with a high level of cultural competency.
Ambassador Chaudhry retired from the United States government as a Senior Foreign Service Officer where he held numerous leadership positions in the Departments of State, Defense, and Agriculture. In his final assignment with the U.S. government, he was the Vice President of the Commodity Credit Corporation managing a $5.5 billion portfolio of credit guarantee programs to support expansion of exports of U.S. products.
In July 2014, Ambassador Chaudhry completed a 3-year assignment as the Foreign Policy Advisor to the Chief of United States Navy (CNO) at the Pentagon. During this assignment, he was the principal architect of the U.S. Navy’s global engagement plan to implement President Obama’s policy of rebalance to the Asia Pacific region.
He was the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova from 2008-11 where he led the implementation of numerous economic development and reform programs that put the country on a path of transformation to a true democracy and an Association Agreement with the European Union.
Prior to that assignment, Ambassador Chaudhry was the Deputy Administrator for the Office of Global Analysis in the Foreign Agricultural Service (2006-08) where he led the development of recommendations that formed part of the foundation of the U.S.-Korea free trade agreement. As Minister-Counselor for Agricultural Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Egypt (2002-06), he negotiated several trade agreements between the United States and 5 countries in the Middle East including Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.
During 1996-99, he served as Counselor for Agricultural Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. There he led the implementation of a billion-dollar food aid program for the Russian Federation in response to the collapse of the financial sector of that country. As Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, Poland (1992-95), Ambassador Chaudhry oversaw the implementation of various USDA economic development programs to help transform the country from a centrally controlled system to a free market economy. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he had a brief stint as a professor of Economics at Montana State University.
Ambassador Chaudhry received his Ph.D. in ag economics from Washington State University and a master’s degree from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. He completed his undergraduate work at the University of Punjab in Pakistan. He speaks Russian, Arabic, Polish, Urdu, and Punjabi, and received a Presidential Meritorious Service Award for his contributions in the conduct of U.S. Foreign Policy.
