COMMUNISM'S NEGOTIATED COLLAPSE:
THE POLISH ROUND TABLE TALKS OF 1989,
TEN YEARS LATER
A Conference at the University of Michigan, April 7-10, 1999

As U.S. Ambassador to Poland, John R. Davis (b. 1927) served as a mediator during the Round Table negotiations. His wife, Helen Davis, acted as convener of informal meetings among Round Table participants at the Ambassador's Residence in Warsaw in the late 1980s. A Foreign Service Officer since 1955, Ambassador Davis holds degrees from UCLA and Harvard University. His diplomatic career has included tours of duty in Washington, Jakarta, and Rome and service as Consul General in Milan and Sydney. He has had four assignments at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw: Economics Officer (1960-63); Deputy Chief of Mission (1973-76); Charge d'Affaires (1983-88); and Ambassador (1988-90). From 1981 to 1983, he was Director of the Eastern European and Yugoslav Affairs Office in the Department of State. From 1992 to 1994, he was U.S. Ambassador to Romania.

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