Director of Morehead-Cain’s global programs brings 26 years of diplomacy home to Carolina – UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media

|By Nicole Juzaitis
This story was originally published at global.unc.edu.
When Ben Ousley Naseman ’96 first arrived at Carolina in 1992, he imagined a future as an international correspondent, specifically a photographer.
Instead, his curiosity about the world — combined with the academic opportunities and global experiences he found at Carolina — set him on a different path: a 26-year career as an American diplomat. Now, he is the director of global programs at the Morehead-Cain Foundation.
“I came from western North Carolina, from Cleveland County,” he said. “Carolina showed me that you can come from a small town and be prepared to operate on a global stage.”
As an undergraduate at Carolina, and as a Morehead‑Cain Scholar himself, Ousley Naseman studied journalism and international studies, now global studies. Morehead-Cain’s four-part Summer Enrichment Program includes outdoor leadership, civic engagement, global exploration and early professional experience.
Across these summers, he practiced wilderness leadership through NOLS in Wyoming’s Wind River Mountains; community-facing public service with the Tucson Police Department; conservation policy work at The Conservation Fund in Washington, D.C.; and cross-cultural collaboration through a documentary photography project with University of Havana students and staff in Cuba. These experiences, along with the curiosity and communication skills he developed through his studies, helped Ousley Naseman build the skill set he would rely on as a diplomat.
“It all tied together — my majors, the different experiences I had as a Morehead Scholar. It was a really nice package by the time I was ready to leave Carolina,” he said. “You can take what you get here and move it with you around the world.”
In his final year at Carolina, Ousley Naseman took the Foreign Service Officer Test.
“I was a Foreign Service Officer for 26 years, mostly as a consular officer. Throughout it all, I felt like I got to give back a lot,” he said. “I even had the opportunity to be an instructor at the Foreign Service Institute, teaching officers getting ready to go out on their first assignment.”
Assignments took him to Mexico, Colombia, Poland, India, Egypt, Greece and Afghanistan. Throughout, he often found himself drawing on his Carolina education.
“Foreign Service Officers are really the first recorders of history,” he said. “You’re meeting people, gathering information, understanding events as they happen and then reporting back to Washington — skills I first learned at Carolina.”
In his final two weeks at the State Department, Ousley Naseman was already preparing to return to Chapel Hill to join the Morehead-Cain Foundation. Around this time, a group of Morehead-Cain Scholars on the foundation’s international gap year program, which enables scholars to spend a year abroad before beginning at Carolina, tracked him down through the alumni network and reached out to meet him in Athens. He gave them a tour of the consular section and shared some of what he had learned throughout his career.
“Meeting him there in Athens was surreal. Suddenly I was talking to someone who’d actually done the work I wanted to do and could show me how to get there myself,” said Paige Greene, one of the scholars in Athens that day. “And I just thought — if everyone [at the foundation] is this kind, I’m set.”
In October 2024, Ousley Naseman returned to Carolina to help launch and lead the Morehead-Cain Global Fellows program, an initiative designed to bring exceptional undergraduate students from around the world to study at UNC-Chapel Hill for one year.
The program reflects the foundation’s mission to identify, invest in and empower a community of dynamic, purpose-driven leaders around the world.
“The world is only going to become more connected,” Ousley Naseman said. “Giving Carolina students the chance to learn alongside students from other countries creates conversations that expand everyone’s perspective.”
The inaugural class of global fellows arrived in fall 2025, representing Azerbaijan, Brazil, India, Nigeria and Turkey. Each fellow was nominated by a university or organization in their home country and selected through a rigorous international application process. For students in the program, Ousley Naseman has become both a mentor and a guide, from the application process throughout their time in the U.S.
“He’s someone we go to for anything,” said Disha Parasu, a global fellow from Vellore Institute of Technology-Chennai in India. “You can talk to him about things he understands. He’s been there and experienced it, too.”
As part of the program, the global fellows traveled with Ousley Naseman to places like western North Carolina, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and New York City. These trips are designed to give the students a broader understanding of North Carolina and the U.S., including their complexity and influence, so the fellows better understand this country when they return home.
“Ben’s experience and leadership have been central to bringing the Global Fellows program to life in a moment of disruption,” said Morehead-Cain President Chris Bradford. “He is a tremendous representative of the United States, UNC-Chapel Hill and Morehead-Cain in his conversations with stakeholders across the world. And he brings an infectious optimism that touches everyone he engages with each day.”
The program will welcome a new class in the fall, expanding its partner universities to include two new institutions in Malaysia.
In addition to his work with the global fellows, Ousley Naseman advises Carolina students preparing for international experiences and mentors those interested in diplomacy and public service. His experience serving on selection committees for international programs, such as Fulbright, gives him a clear sense of what competitive opportunities require and how students can position themselves for success.
“He’s really the person who brings a global perspective,” said Elias Guedira, a graduating Morehead‑Cain Scholar. “Because he’s lived abroad for so long and understands the U.S.’s impact firsthand, hearing about his experiences makes international paths feel much more real.”
Returning to Carolina has also allowed him to reconnect with the interests that first shaped his own path. This year, he served as a judge for the Carolina Global Photography Competition, led by UNC Global Affairs, which invites students, faculty, staff and alumni to submit photos that capture unique global experiences and perspectives.
“Ben has a remarkable ability to connect people across differences (cultures, disciplines and educational systems) in ways that help build meaningful partnerships and strengthen the community we are trying to create,” said Melanie Godinez‑Cedillo, assistant director of recruitment and selection at Morehead‑Cain. “I’ve been genuinely grateful for the experience, support and care he brings to this work.”
Through the Global Fellows program and the expanding network of international partnerships across campus, Ousley Naseman hopes to continue strengthening those connections.
“UNC-Chapel Hill is a flagship public university. It can take students from anywhere and prepare them to engage with the world,” he said. “The more we can bring the world to Carolina — and Carolina to the world — the stronger those relationships will be.”

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