Caldwell Receives Korean Honor

The Consulate General for the Republic of Korea in Seattle has named a new honorary consul general.

Greg Caldwell, former director of international students and scholars at Lewis & Clark, has been named a new honorary consul general of Korea. He will represent Korea’s interest in northern Oregon, including Portland. Caldwell’s five-year term of appointment required approval from both Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the U.S. Department of State.

Caldwell, who retired from Lewis & Clark in 2011 after 35 years in international education, has extensive ties to Korea. He served there as a Peace Corps volunteer in the early 1970s and later taught at Kangweon National University on a Fulbright scholarship. He serves on the board of the Portland-Ulsan Sister City Association and is an honorary member of the board of the Oregon Korea Foundation. Caldwell will maintain a “virtual” honorary consular office on the Lewis & Clark campus.

Caldwell will assist the estimated 35,000 Korean citizens living in Oregon. His primary responsibility is to strengthen ties between northern Oregon and South Korea in the areas of business and commerce, trade, science, education, and culture.

He succeeds John Bates, former chair of Lewis & Clark’s Board of Trustees, who served as honorary consul general for the past five years.