Europe and the Soviet Union
Roman Popadiuk: From Ukraine to American Diplomacy
Born in a postwar displaced persons camp to Ukrainian parents, he became the first U.S. ambassador to independent Ukraine.
- Fled
- Ukraine (born in a displaced persons camp)
- Status
- Born in a displaced persons camp
- Arrived in the U.S.
- early 1950s
- Service
- First U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine (1992 to 1993); Deputy Press Secretary for Foreign Affairs at the White House
- Region
- Europe and the Soviet Union
Roman Popadiuk's Ukrainian parents had been taken to Germany as forced laborers during World War II. He was born in 1950 in a displaced persons camp in Austria, and the family came to the United States when he was an infant.
He joined the Foreign Service in 1981, served in Mexico City, at the Department of State, and on the National Security Council staff, and was deputy press secretary for foreign affairs to Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush. In 1992 he became the first U.S. Ambassador to independent Ukraine.
Read the history behind this story on the Ukraine page, or browse all the diplomats.