Ed Wehrli’s 32-year career in the U.S. State Department has allowed him to work in Jamaica, China, Thailand, Germany, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

It’s now brought him to Oklahoma, to serve as OU’s Diplomat in Residence.

Wehrli said he has three goals as the Diplomat in Residence: Identify students interested in foreign service, inform them of opportunities in the State Department and encourage them to apply for those positions.

“We’re sent out primarily to recruit the best and the brightest students to the State Department,” Wehrli said.

Wehrli said that his major goal is to encourage students seriously interested in a career in the State Department.

“I want to mentor and encourage them, provide the insights that I have personally and tap into the resources at my command to help them along in the process,” Wehrli said.

Julia Mills, a third-year law student, participated in an internship in Washington D.C. with the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor this past summer, after being encouraged to apply for the internship by the previous Diplomat in Residence Rick Roberts.

While working in Washington, Mills said she helped organize human rights training, read and interpreted treaties and met with a number of high-ranking officials.

“It was a great opportunity to see how foreign affairs is developed and implemented,” Mills said.

Wehrli is one of 16 diplomats in residence in the United States. OU provides him an office in Hester Hall room 170A, but his salary is provided by the State Department.

“Factors considered in the identification of potential Diplomat in Residence sites include regional diversity, academic curriculum, size and composition of student population, and level of institutional commitment to preparation of students for careers in international relations and public service,” according to the State Department Web site.

The State Department also provides him traveling expenses to visit other colleges in his region, which includes Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota.

Wehrli will utilize technology and social media to keep in contact with other universities he is serving, which will allow him to spend most of his time at OU, he said.

Wehrli said that students interested in the State Department do not need to know a foreign language.

“One thing I want to do is dispel rumors ... in the American State Department you need not be fluent in a foreign language to enter,” Wehrli said. “We will train you. There is tremendous training available in the State Department. People shouldn’t feel discouraged or dissuaded because they don’t have high competence in a foreign language.”

Wehrli wants to use his personal experience as a recruiting tool as well.

“One of the reasons why I’m here is to share my personal experience,” he said. “To illustrate what a great career the Foreign Service is; not just a job, not just a paycheck, but a great career, a great lifestyle.”