The Lady Blanka Rosenstiel Endowed Program in Polish Culture will Feature Ambassador Aldona Z. Woś

Thursday, November 2, 2023 at 7pm.

Kislak Center at the University of Miami.

Warsaw and Tallinn are destined to cooperate because of their shared history, commonality of interests, and similar geopolitical challenges. Both Poland and Estonia have experienced alike vicissitudes of fate, usually at the hands of their predatory neighbors, in particular Russia and Germany. Therefore, the Poles and the Estonians are drawn together. Sharing affirmative attitudes to freedom has allowed them consistently to cooperate on a variety of practical issues: defense preparation, energy security, infrastructural projects, cultural exchanges, and others.

In addition to bilateral endeavors, both Estonia and Poland constitute a part of a larger mosaic in the region. Not only are they part of many joint initiatives in the Intermarium—lands between the Baltic, Black, and Adriatic seas—but they also are members of the European Union and NATO. They often speak in unison on EU issues and military defense affairs.

Ambassador Woś will shed light on the essence of Estonian-Polish solidarity.

 Ambassador Aldona Z. Woś is President of The Institute of World Politics, where she has served on the Board for over 15 years. In 2004, Ambassador Woś was appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Estonia. From 2013 to 2015, she served as North Carolina’s Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, overseeing more than 18,000 employees across North Carolina and a nearly $20 billion budget. In 2017, President Trump appointed Ambassador Woś as the Vice Chair of the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships, and in 2020, he nominated her to be the U.S. Ambassador to Canada. Ambassador Woś also serves on the boards of The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, the Council of American Ambassadors, and the University of North Carolina Wilmington, as well as on the Duke Law Board of Visitors. Ambassador Woś earned her M.D. at the Warsaw Medical Academy. Her career as a doctor included private practice, corporate medicine, clinical care, teaching, and consulting for both hospitals and private industry.