John Stempel recently retired after twenty-six years with the Patterson School, serving first as associate director from 1988, director from 1993-2003, and finally as senior professor. He became professor emeritus in December 2013. His research and teaching focused on diplomacy, cross-cultural communication, and Middle East politics. Before coming to the University of Kentucky, Stempel was a career American Foreign Service officer. His twenty-three year State Department career included overseas postings focused on political and economic affairs in Guinea, Burundi, Zambia, and Iran. In Washington, he was assigned to both the State and Defense Departments, and served as director of State's Operations Center. He was also diplomat-in-residence at the U.S. Naval Academy. Stempel's final diplomatic assignment was Consul General in Madras (now Chennai), India. Stempel is the author of Inside the Iranian Revolution and Common Sense and Foreign Policy. He received his A.B. from Princeton and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a trustee of Georgetown College.