Richard A. Nuccio was named founding Director of the Pell Center on April 3, 2000. Prior to assuming his position as director, he served in a number of senior foreign policy positions in the U.S. Government. From May 1995 until April 1996, he was special advisor to the President and to the Secretary of State for Cuba. Dr. Nuccio coordinated overall Cuba policy as well as outreach to the public. After leaving the White House, he returned to the State Department as senior policy advisor to Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, Jeffrey Davidow. He resigned from the Clinton Administration in early 1997. From March 1997 until January 1998 he was senior foreign policy advisor to Senator Robert G. Torricelli (D-NJ). He managed the Senator's foreign policy and intelligence concerns, including drafting legislation, speeches, and opinion pieces; coordinating the Senator's foreign travel; and representing the Senator's views to constituents and the media.
During 1998 and 1999, Dr. Nuccio was an advisor on civil society to Fernando Zumbado, director of the United Nations Development Program's Latin American and Caribbean bureau, a consultant to the RAND Corporation, and to the Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO). Dr. Nuccio previously served as senior policy advisor to Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, Alexander Watson (1993-1995). During this period he had special responsibilities as the U.S. coordinator for the Guatemalan Peace Process and as a liaison to the Cuban American community on U.S. Cuba policy. Prior to joining the Administration, Dr. Nuccio was a staff consultant with the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (1991-1993). He was the senior associate of the Inter-American Dialogue of the Aspen Institute (1989-1991), and director of international programs and of Latin American and Caribbean programs at the Roosevelt Center for American Policy Studies (1984-1989).
Dr. Nuccio was a program associate of the Latin American program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (1982-1984), and has taught international relations and Latin American politics at several colleges and universities including Williams College, Bennington College, Georgetown University, and the School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University.
In 1997 Dr. Nuccio received the Cavallo Foundation Prize for Moral Courage in Business and Government. He holds a Ph.D. and A.B. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a Master's Degree in Latin American Studies from Stanford University.