Bost Uses His Experience To Encourage Aggies To Expand Horizons

From domestic government offices to the halls of overseas embassies, former U.S. Ambassador Eric Bost experienced the world as public servant and diplomat. His current duties as A&M vice president for global initiatives still require world travel, but when he comes home, it’s to Aggieland.

From July 2006 to January 2009, Bost served under President George W. Bush as U.S. ambassador to the Republic of South Africa. In the years preceding this appointment, he had positions in the Texas Department of Human Services and as undersecretary in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

While undersecretary, Bost managed a budget totaling $58 billion for 15 federal nutrition programs. In addition to serving more than 30 million Americans monthly, Bost’s programs provided for improved nutrition in 18 countries spanning five continents.

When Bost became U.S. ambassador in 2006, he assumed charge of more than 1,000 employees from 26 state agencies. In this position, he organized the distribution of medical treatments for more than 300,000 South Africans though the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

An additional 1.5 million affected women also received care through prevention of mother-to-child transmission services.

Bost said these efforts were made personal by one particular experience in a small village in South Africa.

“I met a young woman who was about 26 years old who was caring for her child and for her siblings, a brother and a sister, who were both under the age of 6,” Bost said. “She spoke Zulu, and through an interpreter this is what she said to me. Because of me, and what I had been able to do in terms of making sure she received medicine for HIV and AIDS, she and her child and her brother and her sister were alive today. There’s nothing I could do to top that.”

Jared Rann, a senior wildlife and fisheries sciences major who came to A&M from South Africa, said Bost’s work is the kind of relief impoverished South Africans desperately need.

“The level of poverty in South Africa is really unlike anything found in the U.S.,” Rann said. “The HIV/AIDS issue in the country makes any AIDS relief program of huge value to families where one or multiple members are HIV-positive or have AIDS. Foreign support is critical for South Africa to overcome the challenges it faces.”

Bost’s term as ambassador concluded with the inauguration of President Barack Obama on Jan. 20, 2009. He arrived the next day at the College Station airport, ready to serve A&M.

As vice president for global initiatives, Bost oversees A&M’s international programs and research agreements. Bost said though he no longer is a U.S. ambassador, he still considers his duties to be diplomatic in nature.

“I was ambassador to South Africa on behalf of President George W. Bush, on behalf of all 300 million U.S. citizens,” Bost said. “Now I represent the University and it’s faculty and its staff and its students when I travel the world. In that respect, I’m an ambassador.”

Among his responsibilities, Bost said expanding students’ global understanding is paramount. This task requires partnering with international universities, expanding study abroad programs and inviting foreign students to interact with Aggies at Texas A&M. Bost said such experiences are necessary to ensure that A&M graduates are competitive applicants in a shrinking world.

“We live and work in a very global society. The world has changed and is continuing to change in terms of how we are all connected globally,” Bost said. “One of our major goals is to get students on this campus to broaden their international horizons. For our students to be able to compete on the world stage, they need to have world-stage experience.”

Michael Greenwald, director of the A&M International Studies Program, said Bost is accomplishing this goal.

“More than anything I can think of, he’s doing a tremendous job of getting students enthused about international travel and careers in the new global world,” Greenwald said. “We are extraordinarily fortunate to have someone of his talent, contacts, and especially passion in his office.”

Dan Newbold, a senior marketing major, said Bost offered an inspiring testimony when he spoke to the student service organization, One Army.

“I feel as though Ambassador Bost is a hidden gem at A&M,” Newbold said. “For 76 college men to hear from someone of his stature was truly inspirational. His dedication to the development of others is something that coincides well with the values of Texas A&M.”