Jay L. Bruns III

Jay Bruns is an affiliate instructor in the Scandinavian Studies Department at the University of Washington.  
 

Previously, held several roles involving insurance and climate change.  He was Senior Climate Policy Advisor to the Washington State Insurance Commissioner. Prior to that, Jay had been Senior Advisor for Private Sector Engagement at the United Nations Environment Program. Earlier, he was vice president at the insurance company The Hartford, where he led the company’s environmental stewardship efforts. 

Earlier, Jay was a career American diplomat for 25 years, rising to the Senior Foreign Service. He represented the US in Norway, Germany, Japan, Trinidad and Tobago, and Canada, and held positions in the State Department, Office of U.S. Trade Representative, and the National Security Council at the White House.  Among his positions were U.S. Special Negotiator for Conflict Diamonds, Charge’ d’Affaires (acting ambassador) in Norway, and U.S. Consul General in Vancouver, Canada.

Before joining the Foreign Service, Jay had been a high school exchange student in Denmark for a year and returned to study for another year at the University of Copenhagen.  In all, he has lived 17 years outside the United States.

Currently, Jay serves as Immediate Past President of the board of trustees of the National Nordic Museum in Seattle, and he is involved in two start-up companies and several non-profit boards. Jay holds a B.A. from Colorado College and an M.A. from George Washington University.