On May 8, former U.S. diplomat and current Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial writer Dan Simpson spoke to Shady Side Academy Senior School students in the history elective U.S. and Middle East Policy Since 1945, which is taught by Kyle Smith.

Simpson hosted an open discussion with the students on current issues facing American policymakers in the Middle East. Students in the class included seniors Nick Becker, Will Davis, Leila Skinner, Sarah Wecht, Antoni Yotov and Fuad Youssef, and junior Caitlin Mulvihill.

After college, Simpson taught secondary school in Nigeria for two years and at the Libyan Army Military College for two years, then joined the U.S. State Department. Apart from some assignments in Washington, he served for the next 35 years in Burundi, South Africa, Bulgaria, Iceland, Lebanon and Bosnia-Herzegovina, including as U.S. ambassador to the Central African Republic, Somalia and Zaire, which became the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He also was deputy commander of the U.S. Army War College and vice president of the National Defense University. Since retiring from the State Department, he has been a daily editorial writer and weekly columnist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as well as board vice chairman of the Pittsburgh World Affairs Council.