UMD ADVISORY COUNCIL

Ambassador Ljubica Acevska 

Ambassador Ljubica Z. Acevska served as the Republic of Macedonia’s Ambassador to the United States between 1991-2000. During her time representing the Republic of Macedonia, she successfully established bilateral relations between Macedonia and the United States, and advocated for the U.S. to send troops as U.N. peacekeepers to Macedonia’s northern border in the early 90s. She also oversaw Macedonia’s membership in the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, and served as a Macedonian Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly.

After her service as Ambassador, Acevska went on to become a Public Policy Scholar at the prestigious Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. From 2005-2008, she was a co-host of the DC-TV talk show “Conversations,” focusing on international issues. In addition to her current public speaking engagements and international business development consulting work, Acevska is Co-Founder and President of Pencils 4 Kids International, an organization that provides much-needed school supplies to children worldwide. Acevska has served on numerous Boards, and was a founding partner of Gulf Enterprises, which deals in international trade, consulting and development in the Arabian Gulf, with offices in Washington, D.C and Abu Dhabi.

Acevska was born in Capari, Macedonia. She came to the United States with her family at the age of nine, and grew up in Mansfield, Ohio. Acevska completed her undergraduate and postgraduate studies at The Ohio State University in the field of international studies. She attended Harvard University twice, once at the John F. Kennedy School of Government for a fellowship in Leadership in the 21st Century: Chaos, Conflict and Courage, and later at the Harvard Business School for an Executive Development Program sponsored by the World Bank. She currently resides in Washington, D.C. with her husband, psychiatrist and author Dr. Joseph R. Novello.

UNITED, WE CAN!