Martin and Syma Mendelsohn Lectureship in International Relations
Ambassador Nicholas "Nick" Platt
Ambassador Nicholas "Nick" Platt delivered the annual Martin and Syma Mendelsohn Lectureship in International Relations on April 17, 2019. Ambassador Platt presented his personal footage of his time in China during the 1970s to an audience of Brooklyn College students, faculty, and staff.
Platt accompanied President Richard Nixon on the historic trip to Beijing in 1972 that signaled the resumption of relations between the United States and China. Platt was assigned as chief of the political section, U.S. Liaison Office, Peking, China, 1973–74, and then as deputy chief of the political section at the Embassy in Tokyo, 1974–77. He returned to Washington, D.C., to serve as Director for Japanese Affairs in 1977 and then served as a staff member on the National Security Council at the White House, 1978–1980. From 1980 to 1981, he was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, International Security Affairs, Department of Defense, and then returned to the Department of State as Deputy Assistant Secretary, International Organization Affairs, 1981–82. Platt was appointed Ambassador to the Republic of Zambia in 1982, where he served until 1985, when he was named Special Assistant to the Secretary of State and Executive Secretary of the Department of State.
Platt was born in New York City. He received his B.A. from Harvard College in 1957 and an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in 1959.
Martin Mendelsohn '63 established the lectureship series in 2009 with his wife, Syma '64. Mendelsohn is a former federal official who created the Office of Special Investigation in the Department of Justice. The office's mission was to find and prosecute Nazi war criminals. Mendelsohn went on to represent Holocaust survivors' claims against Swiss banks and Austrian and German firms and became the external counsel to the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Syma Mendelsohn is a former teacher, editor, and marketing executive.
