“I’m a resource. Use me,” said Edward Kulakowski, UCLA’s Diplomat-in-Residence ““ and he means it.
Kulakowski is one of only two Diplomats-in-Residence in California.
Kulakowski, a Senior Foreign Service Officer, was appointed by the State Department to serve the 2008-09 academic year at UCLA as a recruiter, counselor and mentor to students interested State Department careers.
He will also be teaching a course at UCLA in the spring.
“I’ve been abroad for 15 years,” Kulakowski said. “And coming back to the U.S., I could have retired out of Warsaw, but UCLA was an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
Kulakowski said this assignment brings together the aspects he enjoyed most from both his earlier teaching career and his State Department career ““ teaching, mentoring, public relations and outreach for the state department.
The Diplomat-in-Residence program has been successful at UCLA because the university integrates the diplomats academically, said Bill Parent, Associate Dean of the UCLA School of Public Affairs.
“Normally the State Department rotates the diplomats on different campuses, but they have found that UCLA has been an optimal location for Foreign Service recruiting throughout Southern California,” Parent said.
Kulakowski said he is not sure if he chose this career path or if it chose him. He was recruited from Honolulu, Hawaii, by the United States Information Agency to go to the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.
“If it wasn’t for the government I’d still be laying on a beach in Hawaii somewhere,” he said.
At 17 years old he left his home in Philadelphia to see the world, Kulakowski said. He joined the military, serving two years in Hawaii and two in Japan. His experience in Japan had a tremendous impact on him.
“I fell in love with Japanese people and culture,” he added.
He made up his mind at that time to study foreign languages. Kulakowski went back to school under the GI Bill, and as a Russian and Soviet Studies student at the University of Hawaii, he went as an exchange student to the Leningrad State University in former Soviet Russia.
Kulakowski said students interested in a career in the Foreign Service should be comfortable living among foreign cultures and enjoy traveling.
“As a foreign service officer, you will serve the bulk of your career abroad,” he said.
What might be challenging or inconvenient for some are exactly what make the job exciting and glamorous for others.
As a Senior Foreign Service Officer, Kulakowski has had the opportunity to work with famous actors, jazz musicians, well-known foreigners, and high-ranking political figures.
He recently discussed and answered questions regarding State Department career opportunities at an information session hosted by the School of Public Affairs on Oct. 9.
“It was very inspiring. It heightened my level of interest in international affairs and a possible career in the State Department. I have since met with him and he was really helpful,” said Monica O’Connor, a UCLA student said.
Parent said the position is valuable as a real-world perspective for students interested in a career abroad and that Kulakowski has an impressive resume.
“I was a cold warrior,” Kulakowski said.
He served two tours as Cultural Attaché in Moscow, also serving as Public Affairs Officer in Kyrgyzstan, America House Director in Armenia, and with the USIA Voice of America Exhibits Service in Washington D.C.
Most recently, he was the Counselor for Press and Culture at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, Poland. Kulakowski is enthusiastic about his role as mentor and encourages students to drop by his office in the Public Affairs building.
He said he is more than willing to share his area of expertise, help students prepare for the Foreign Service exam, and offer career advice.