Daniel Bennett Smith (born March 6, 1956) is an American diplomat who served as the director of the

Foreign Service Institute The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is the United States federal government's primary training institution for employees of the U.S. foreign affairs community, preparing American diplomats as well as other professionals to advance U.S. foreig ...

and acting

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

at the

presidential transition of Joe Biden The presidential transition of Joe Biden began on November 7, 2020 and ended on January 20, 2021. Unlike previous presidential transitions, which normally take place during the roughly 10-week period between the election in the first week o ...

. He has held the rank of

career ambassador Career ambassador is a personal rank of Foreign Service Officers within the United States Department of State Senior Foreign Service. The rank of career ambassador is awarded by nomination of the President and confirmation by the United States Sena ...

since September 2018. He previously served as

Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research The Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research is the head of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) within the United States Department of State. Before 1986, the head of INR was the Director of the Bureau of Intelligenc ...

at the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

, assuming that post on February 14, 2014. He is considered a veteran diplomat by the U.S. diplomatic community.

Early life and education

Smith obtained a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

from the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado syst ...

, followed by a Master of Arts and PhD from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. His dissertation is tiitled "Toward Internationalism:

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

Foreign Economic Policy, 1933–39", and was completed in 1983.

Career

Under

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

, Smith served as the

United States Ambassador to Greece This is a list of United States ambassadors to Greece. List of ambassadors List of ambassadors from the United States to Greece. ;1868–1899: *Charles K. Tuckerman, Charles Keating Tuckerman (Minister 1868–71) *John M. Francis (Minister 1871� ...

from 2010 to 2013. In 2018, Smith was selected to serve as the Director of the Foreign Service Institute. In 2021, President Joe Biden selected Smith to serve as the acting secretary of state until his nominee for the position,

Antony Blinken Antony John Blinken (born April 16, 1962) is an American government official and diplomat serving as the 71st United States secretary of state since January 26, 2021. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and ...

, was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. Antony Blinken was confirmed on January 26, 2021. On May 3, 2021, he was appointed as US envoy to India.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Daniel Bennett 1956 births Living people People from Redwood City, California Ambassadors of the United States to Greece Stanford University alumni University of Colorado alumni Assistant Secretaries of State for Intelligence and Research United States Career Ambassadors Biden administration cabinet members Acting United States Secretaries of State