David Bruce Shear (born May 25, 1954)
is an American diplomat who was a career
Foreign Service Officer
A Foreign Service Officer (FSO) is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. Foreign Service Officers formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. FSOs spend most of their careers overseas as members of U ...
.
David Bruce Shear (1954–)
/ref> Shear served as the from July 2014 to June 2016. Prior to his nomination for this position, he served as United States Ambassador to Vietnam
The United States ambassador to Vietnam (Vietnamese: ''Đại sứ Hoa Kỳ tại Việt Nam'') is the chief American diplomat to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. After the First Indochina War and the defeat of the French domination over Vietnam ...
. He was also formerly deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs at the U.S. Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
; he joined the State Department in 1982 and has served in Washington, Sapporo
( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...
, Beijing
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Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, Kuala Lumpur
, anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera''
, image_map =
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, pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia
, pushpin_map_caption =
, coordinates =
, su ...
and Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
.
Born in Cobleskill, New York, Shear attended Clayton A. Bouton High School
Clayton A. Bouton High School is a public high school located in Voorheesville, Albany County, New York, U.S.A., and is the only high school operated by the Voorheesville Central School District.
Athletics at Voorheesville high school include bo ...
, graduating in 1971. He is a graduate of Earlham College
Earlham College is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana. The college was established in 1847 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and has a strong focus on Quaker values such as integrity, a commitment to peace and social ...
with a B.A. degree in 1975. Shear also has a M.A. degree in international affairs
International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...
from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., United States, with campuses in Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China. It is consistently ranked one of the ...
in 1982, and was a Rusk Fellow at Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. He served as United States Ambassador to Vietnam
The United States ambassador to Vietnam (Vietnamese: ''Đại sứ Hoa Kỳ tại Việt Nam'') is the chief American diplomat to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. After the First Indochina War and the defeat of the French domination over Vietnam ...
from 2011 until leaving office in 2014.
Personal life
Shear is a black belt in kendo
is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords (shinai) as well as protective armor (bōgu). Today, it is widely practiced within Japan and has spread ...
. He and his wife Barbara have a daughter. He speaks Chinese and Japanese.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shear, David Bruce
1954 births
Living people
People from Cobleskill, New York
Earlham College alumni
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies alumni
United States Foreign Service personnel
Georgetown University alumni
Ambassadors of the United States to Vietnam
United States Assistant Secretaries of Defense
American kendoka