N. Bruce Pickering has been the executive director of Asia Society's Northern California Center since 2003, with a background in government, non-profit organizations and academia. Previously, he was director of public affairs and development at the graduate school of journalism and special assistant to the director of the Institute of East Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He also served as program director of the World Affairs Council (1997-1999) and executive director of the U.S. Japan 21st Century Project. Earlier in his career, he served as a foreign service officer with the U.S. Department of State, specializing in Political and Arms Control issues (1981-1993), and was deputy political counsel on the U.S. delegation to the Conference on security and cooperation in Vienna during the collapse of the Soviet Union (1988-1992). He serves as executive director of the California State Assembly International Relations Foundation Board.