Advisory Board

Ambassador (Ret.) Robert W. “Bill” Farrand, Chairman, came to POPP after serving three years as the first Supervisor and Deputy High Representative for Brcko (1997-2000). A retired Foreign Service officer, Farrand led a distinguished career focusing on Soviet and Asian issues. He had been appointed Ambassador to Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu (1990-93); principal deputy assistant secretary of state, Bureau of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs (1987-90); deputy director, Office of Foreign Service Career Counseling and Assignments (Personnel) (1985-87); deputy chief of mission, US Embassy Prague, Czechoslovakia (1983-85); deputy director, Office of Eastern European and Yugoslav Affairs (1981-82); officer-in-charge of bilateral affairs, Office of Soviet Affairs (1978-80); director, US Commercial Office Moscow, USSR (1976-78); chief of economic/commercial section, US Embassy Prague, Czechoslovakia (1973-76); commodities officer, Bureau of Economics and Business Affairs (1970-73); chief of consular section, US Embassy Moscow, USSR (1968-1970); and junior officer, US Embassy Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1965-67). Farrand served as an officer in the US Navy (1957-64). He also spent time teaching, serving as deputy commandant for international affairs at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at Fort McNair, Washington, DC (1993-95) and economics instructor at the US Naval Academy (1961-64). Farrand hosts the “Peace and Stability Operations Colloquium Series” for POPP and is completing a manuscript about his experience in Bosnia. He holds an M.A. Economics from Georgetown University and B.S. Economics and Business Administration Mount Saint Mary’s College. He is a graduate of the National War College.

Howard “Roy” Williams, Member, is president and CEO of the nongovernmental organization, Center for Humanitarian Cooperation. He was previously director of the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) (1998-2001), where he oversaw disaster preparedness and relief and rehabilitation programs throughout the world. Before going to OFDA, Williams served with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) (1985-93) where he led efforts that resulted in the conceptualization, creation and staffing of IRC’s Emergency Preparedness Unit. A major part of his responsibilities entailed directing operations that resulted in the establishing of IRC offices in a variety of places including Northern Iraq, Jordan, the Balkans, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, and Southern Sudan. Williams served with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), formerly known as the International Committee for European Migration (ICEM), as chief of operations in Geneva, Switzerland (1983-85), regional director in Bangkok, Thailand (1980-83), and country representative in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1979-80). He is a visiting professor at the US Army Peace Keeping and Stability Operations Institute in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and an adjunct assistant professor at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. Williams holds a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and studied at the Columbia University School of Law.

BG (Ret.)/The Honorable Thomas Patterson “Patt” Maney, Member, has been an Okaloosa County Court judge since 1989, noted for his problem-solving approach to systemic challenges including jail overcrowding, the cost of incarcerating mentally ill defendants, and worthless check prosecutions. Maney is spearheading local efforts to establish a VA Vet Center to serve veterans in his county. While maturing as a judge, he simultaneously continued to serve in the US Army Reserve, ultimately retiring as a brigadier general in April 2007. Maney is a veteran of Operation Just Cause (Panama); Operation Uphold Democracy (Haiti); Operations Joint Guard and Joint Endeavor (Bosnia) and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan). He is a former deputy commander of both the Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command and the JFK Special Warfare Center and School. For 17 months, Maney served as the political sector coordinator and senior advisor to the US Ambassador to Afghanistan and held the diplomatic status of attaché. He was wounded in an IED attack, becoming the senior service member to be wounded in Afghanistan, and spent almost 20 months recuperating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Maney is a graduate of the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville College of Law, Troy State University, and the Army War College.