Bill Hybl, chairman and CEO of the El Pomar Foundation in Colorado Springs and past U.S. Olympic Committee president, will head a federal agency that oversees the State Department's diplomacy policies and programs.

Hybl said that as chairman of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy he wants to improve the world's view of the United States through music, sports and cultural affairs.

"Public diplomacy is encouraging trust, understanding and goodwill on a personal basis, whether it's exchanges, cultural programs or public information officers," he said.

"The challenges are pretty significant. We haven't, in my view, done enough to show what the American culture and ability - in music, sports, dance - really is. How do we magnify this, using coaches, jazz groups, country and western groups, and really show people in a definitive way what America does?"

Hybl was sworn in Tuesday by Vice President Dick Cheney after he was appointed by President Bush and confirmed by the Senate.

From 1990 to 1997, Hybl was a member of the sevenmember bipartisan panel that assesses public diplomacy policies and American missions abroad.

Commission responsibilities include international exchanges, U.S. international information programs and publicly funded nongovernmental organizations.

Hybl will serve through October 2009.

Hybl was U.S. Olympic Committee president for four Olympic Games - the 1992 winter and summer Games, the 1998 winter Games and the 2000 summer Games - and remains active in Olympic affairs, including as chairman and CEO of the U.S. Olympic Foundation.

He serves on the board of directors of the International Republican Institute and leads the board for the International Foundation for Election Systems.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0238 or pam.zubeck@gazette.com