Bob Walsh

Bob Walsh has had 30 years of work in international relations. He has assembled a group of highly respected leaders from throughout the world and an experienced staff to develop and produce One World 2011.

Walsh partnered with Ted Turner, the entrepreneur who created CNN and Turner Broadcasting, to present the Goodwill Games—an event which has been credited with helping to end the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Goodwill Games—first held in Moscow in 1986 then in Seattle, USA in 1990—brought together thousands of people from the two countries in a massive exchange of athletes, artists, businesses and citizens from all walks of life. For his efforts, including the organization of the first western medical relief after the devastating Armenian earthquake in 1988, Walsh received the Supreme Soviet Award, the highest recognition given by the USSR from President Mikhail Gorbachev, and was named an Honorary Citizen of Georgia by Eduard Shevardnadze for his humanitarian activities during the civil war of the early 90’s. He has also received special recognition from two U.S. presidents; George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan.

Walsh served as President of Bob Walsh and Associates from 1991 to 2004, a company which operated offices in Moscow, Russia, Tbilisi, Georgia, Seattle and Washington, D.C. The company developed many properties in Tbilisi (including two Marriott Hotels), operated a pharmaceutical company in nine countries, and produced major international events. The Company hosted three NCAA Final Four Basketball Championships, two NBA All-Star Games, and dozens of other international and national sporting events. The NCAA has credited him with expanding the Final Four into March Madness in 1984.

Walsh served as Program Director for KABC radio, the first all-talk station in the country, in Los Angeles, California, and Assistant General Manager of the Seattle Super Sonics of the National Basketball Association. He is a graduate of Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio, 1962.