Joseph Wilson Prueher (born November 25, 1942) is a former admiral of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

who was

United States Ambassador Ambassadors of the United States are persons nominated by the president to serve as the country's diplomatic representatives to foreign nations, international organizations, and as ambassadors-at-large. Under Article II, Section 2 of the U.S ...

to the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

from 1999 to 2001. He was succeeded as ambassador by Clark T. Randt Jr.

Early life

A native of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

where he was born in 1942, Prueher attended

Montgomery Bell Academy Montgomery Bell Academy (MBA) is a preparatory day school for boys in grades 7 through 12 in Nashville, Tennessee. History MBA was established in 1867 in the aftermath of the American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861&nb ...

in Nashville and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. He also obtained a master's degree in international affairs from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GWU is the largest Higher educat ...

Elliott School of International Affairs The Elliott School of International Affairs (known as the Elliott School or ESIA) is the professional school of international relations, foreign policy, and international development of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. It is ...

Career

Prueher started his career in the

as Midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy in 1960. He flew as an

A-6 Intruder The Grumman A-6 Intruder is an American twinjet all-weather attack aircraft developed and manufactured by American aircraft company Grumman Aerospace and operated by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. It was designed in response to a 1957 r ...

in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. In the later part of his career, he was the seventy-third Commandant of Midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy. Prueher attained the rank of admiral as Commander Carrier Group One in 1991. He was appointed Commander of the U.S. Sixth Fleet from 1993 to 1995. He was

Vice Chief of Naval Operations The vice chief of naval operations (VCNO) is the second highest-ranking commissioned United States Navy officer in the Department of the Navy and functions as the principal deputy of the chief of naval operations and by statute, the vice chief ...

from 1995 to 1996, and Commander-in-Chief of the

United States Pacific Command United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) is a unified combatant command of the United States Armed Forces responsible for the Indo-Pacific region. Formerly known as United States Pacific Command (USPACOM) since its inception in 1947, ...

from 1996 to 1999. He was posted as ambassador to China from November 1999 to May 2001. Prueher negotiated the settlement and delivered the "letter of the two sorries" which defused the

Hainan Island incident The Hainan Island incident occurred on April 1, 2001, when a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II signals intelligence aircraft and a People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) J-8II interceptor fighter jet collided in mid-air, resulting in an inte ...

in 2001. He then joined Stanford University's Institute of International Studies as Consulting Professor in 2001. Prueher is currently the James R. Schlesinger Distinguished Professor at the Miller Center of the University of Virginia, as well as Senior Advisor to the Stanford-Harvard Preventive Defense Project, working on dialogue for US-China security matters.

Awards and decorations

In December 1998 he was appointed an Honorary Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gov ...

, "for distinguished service in the promotion of Australian and United States of America Defence relations". In 1997, he was honored with the

Naval War College Distinguished Graduate Leadership Award The Naval War College Distinguished Graduate leadership Award was established in 1996 by the Trustees of the Naval War College Foundation to honor United States Naval War College graduates who have attained positions of prominence in the field of n ...

and, in 2001, Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award by George Washington University.

Post-government career

Prueher is a director of Fluor Corporation, Irving, Texas; Emerson Electric Co., St. Louis, Missouri; and AMERIGROUP Corporation, Virginia Beach, Virginia.

References

External links

Joseph W. Prueher profile at Forbes.comJoseph Prueher profile at CISAC/Stanford
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prueher, Joseph Living people Ambassadors of the United States to China United States Naval Academy alumni United States Naval Aviators United States Navy admirals Recipients of the Legion of Merit Elliott School of International Affairs alumni Honorary Officers of the Order of Australia 1942 births Clinton administration cabinet members 20th-century American politicians Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Vice Chiefs of Naval Operations Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal 20th-century American naval officers