Born in New York City to a Swiss father and a Polish mother, Ed Nef grew up immersed in multiple languages and cultures. After a two-year detour to Stuttgart, Germany, with the US Army, Ed entered the US Foreign Service in 1959. Starting in Dakar, Senegal, as an economic officer, his assignments took him to Guatemala, Colombia, and Canada. Breaking up his State Department tours were two stints with the new US Peace Corps. In 1976, Ed won a State Department Congressional Fellowship to work on Capitol Hill, which led to a permanent position as legislative director for Senator Max Baucus of Montana. A career in the rigid and bureaucratic State Department and years in the hectic world of politics left Ed wanting to create something of his own. He found a promising opportunity in the "businesses for sale" section of The Washington Post: a foreign language school. Ed bought the school and turned it into the largest independent language school in the Washington, DC area. Eventually, Ed opened English language schools in Japan, Mongolia, and Vietnam. His fascination with the countries he visited-and a knack for the visual arts-led him into the world of documentary film production. He produced films on topics ranging from the post-war relationship between the US and Vietnam to the rights of women in Senegal and the mining industry in Mongolia. In one last great adventure, Ed began a family foundation, The Ed Nef Foundation, to support worthy projects around the world. His latest effort is providing prosthetics to seriously disabled Mongolian individuals. In the midst of his eclectic professional life, Ed managed to squeeze in another half a career as a flight instructor. Today, he lives with his wife, Elizabeth, in Northern Virginia. They have three daughters and four grandchildren.
