Witney W. Schneidman has an extensive background in African affairs and economic development. He served in the Clinton Administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs where he was responsible for economic and commercial issues in Sub-Saharan Africa and had regional responsibility for Southern Africa. Among his activities was ensuring the passage and implementation of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, the establishment of the US-SADC Forum, the US-Angola Bilateral Consultative Commission and the US-Nigeria Joint Economic Partnership Committee. Dr. Schneidman helped to organize President Clinton’s two visits to Africa and was a member of both official delegations.

Before joining the State Department, Dr. Schneidman was Senior Vice President at Samuels International Associates in Washington, DC, and Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He has also worked for the World Bank as a Senior Policy Analyst and speechwriter to the Vice President for the Africa region. He was also a Senior Associate at Investor Responsibility Research Center where he made frequent trips to South Africa to assess compliance with the Sullivan Principles by American companies. Dr. Schneidman is also the Principal of Schneidman & Associates International, an Africa-focused business-consulting firm.

Dr. Schneidman has received a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Southern California, an M.A. in International Relations from the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and his B.A. (Cum Laude) from Temple University in history.

He has written extensively on African economic and political issues, and has served as a commentator for CBS News, CNN, National Public Radio and South Africa Broadcasting Corporation among other media outlets. Dr. Schneidman was the principal author of the report, A Ten Year Strategy for Increasing Capital Flows to Africa, issued in June 2003 by the Commission on Capital Flows to Africa, sponsored by the Corporate Council on Africa and the International Institute for Economics. Together with the pollster John Zogby, he is conducting a study on the National Perceptions of the Official Response to the HIV/AIDS Pandemic in Southern Africa, in association with the UN Foundation and UNAIDS. He is the author of Engaging Africa: Washington and the Fall of Portugal's Colonial Empire, published in February 2004 by the University Press of America. Foreign Affairs described his book as "a must-read for anyone interested in decolonization or Cold War diplomacy," and "the definitive diplomatic history of U.S.-Portuguese relations in the 1960s and 1970s."

Dr. Schneidman is a board member of the U.S.-South Africa Leadership Program, Episcopal Relief and Development, and the Christ Church Foundation, Alexandria, VA.

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