Assistant Secretary of State (A/S) is a title used for many executive positions in the United States Department of State,ranking below the under secretaries. A set of six assistant secretaries reporting to the under secretary for political affairs manage diplomatic missions within their designated geographic regions,plus one assistant secretary dealing with international organizations. Assistant secretaries usually manage individual bureaus of the Department of State. When the manager of a bureau or another agency holds a title other than assistant secretary,such as "director," it can be said to be of "assistant secretary equivalent rank." Assistant secretaries typically have a set of deputies,referred to as deputy assistant secretaries (DAS).
Robert Orris Blake Jr. is an American career diplomat who served as Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives from 2006 to 2009,Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs from 2009 to 2013 and Ambassador to Indonesia from 2014 to 2016.
In the United States Government,the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs is part of the United States Department of State and is charged with advising the Secretary of State and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs on matters of the Asia-Pacific region,as well as dealing with U.S. foreign policy and U.S. relations with countries in that area. It is headed by the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs,who reports to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.
Shari English Woods Villarosa is a United States diplomat and career foreign service officer. She was the United States Ambassador to Mauritius and to the Seychelles from 2012 to 2017.
Eunice Sharon Reddick is an American diplomat and is a former ambassador to Niger. She previously served as the U.S. ambassador to Gabon and São Toméand Príncipe.
Patricia Marie Haslach is an American diplomat. She served as the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs,from September 2016 to September 2017. She previously served as the United States Ambassador to Ethiopia from August 4,2013 through September 2016.
Sung Yong Kim is an American diplomat of Korean descent serving as the United States Special Representative for North Korea Policy since 2021,and previously from 2014 to 2016. He has also served as the acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs from January to June 2021.
Derek James Mitchell is an American diplomat with extensive experience in Asia policy. He was appointed by President Barack Obama as the first special representative and policy coordinator for Burma with rank of ambassador,and was sworn in by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on October 2,2011. On June 29,2012,the U.S. Senate confirmed him as the new United States Ambassador to Burma. On September 4,2018,Mitchell succeeded Kenneth Wollack as president of the National Democratic Institute.
Daniel R. Russel is an American diplomat who served as the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 2013 to 2017. Prior to his appointment as Assistant Secretary,Russel was Special Assistant to the President and National Security Staff Senior Director for Asian Affairs. While working at the White House,he was a major figure in the Obama administration's "pivot towards Asia" strategy.
Joseph Yuosang Yun is the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Compact Negotiations,appointed in March 2022 by President Joe Biden to negotiate amendments to the Compact of Free Association (COFA),the agreement governing the relationship between the United States and the Freely Associated States (FAS) of the Federated States of Micronesia,the Marshall Islands,and Palau.
Robert Frank Godec is an American diplomat who served as the United States ambassador to Kenya from 2013 to 2019 and the United States ambassador to Tunisia from 2006 to 2009. He served as acting assistant secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs from January to September 2021. As of August 2022,he is the designate to be the United States Ambassador to Thailand.
Atul Keshap is an American diplomat and career United States Foreign Service Officer from Virginia who recently served as the Chargéd'affaires of the United States mission to India. He formerly served as U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the United States Department of State. In January,2022,he was appointed as the president of U.S.-India Business Council.
Kin Wah Moy(born 1966) is an American diplomat and holds the diplomatic rank of Career Minister. He is the first Chinese-American to hold the post as Director of the American Institute in Taiwan. Having served in the Department of State and several diplomatic outposts,he began his tenure as the director of the American Institute in Taiwan,the de facto embassy of the United States in Taiwan,in June 2015.
W. Patrick Murphy is a career U.S. diplomat. A Senior Foreign Service Officer,he served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 2018 to 2019,fulfilling the duties of Acting Assistant Secretary,and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Southeast Asia and Multilateral Affairs,2016–2018. He previously served as Chargéd'affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission in the Kingdoms of Thailand and Lesotho. He was nominated on January 16,2019 to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of Cambodia.
David Nathan Merrill is an American retired diplomat who served as the ambassador of the United States to Bangladesh.
Thomas Laszlo Vajda is an American diplomat who has served as the United States Ambassador to Myanmar since 2021.
Elizabeth Anne Noseworthy Fitzsimmons is an American diplomat who is serving as the United States Ambassador to Togo.
Robert A. Wood is an American diplomat who is the nominee to be the Alternate Representative of the United States of America for Special Political Affairs in the United Nations,with the rank of Ambassador.
Donna Ann Welton is an American diplomat who is the nominee to be the next United States Ambassador to Timor Leste.
