Eric Grant John (born 1960) is the current Senior Advisor for Security Negotiations and Agreements and the former U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, having been appointed October 22, 2007. Ambassador John joined the Foreign Service in 1983 and has served primarily in East Asia. He has three tours in Korea, most recently as the Minister Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. He also served as the Deputy Director of Korean Affairs in Washington, D.C. His other tours include Deputy Principal Officer of the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; the Orderly Departure Program at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand; and the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. In 2005, Ambassador John was named Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Southeast Asia. He currently serves as the Foreign Policy Advisor to the Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. The ambassador grew up in

New Castle, Indiana New Castle is a city in Henry County, Indiana, east-northeast of Indianapolis, on the Big Blue River. The city is the county seat of Henry County. New Castle is home to New Castle Fieldhouse, the largest high school gymnasium in the world. T ...

. He is married and has had a son and daughter. On August 27, 2010, his daughter Nicole fell to her death in NYC from a window ledge. She was aged 17.

Education

Ambassador John earned a B.S. in Foreign Service from the

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 ...

School of Foreign Service The Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) is the school of international relations at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. It is considered to be one of the world's leading international affairs schools, granting degrees at bot ...

in 1982, and an M.A. in National Security Studies from the National War College in 2002.

Languages

Ambassador John learned

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

as a high school exchange student with

AFS Intercultural Programs AFS Intercultural Programs (or AFS, originally the American Field Service) is an international youth exchange organization. It consists of over 50 independent, not-for-profit organizations, each with its own network of volunteers, profession ...

. He can speak

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

and Thai.

References

External links

Bangkok Embassy
U.S. Department of State 1960 births Living people People from Indiana Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni United States Foreign Service personnel National War College alumni Ambassadors of the United States to Thailand {{US-diplomat-stub