R. Timothy Ziemer
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

R. Timothy Ziemer (born 1946) is an American retired naval officer. He was a
U.S. 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 o ...
helicopter pilot 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 ...
, commanded several squadrons and an air wing during the First Gulf War, and completed his Navy career as commander of the Navy's Mid-Atlantic Region, with the rank of rear admiral. After retiring he became an expert in global disaster response and health threats. He led the President's Malaria Initiative from 2006 until 2017, then joined the National Security Council as the director in charge of global health security and biothreats, serving until May 8, 2018, when the position was abolished by the Trump administration.


Early life and education

He was born in
Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County ...
. The son of Christian missionaries, he grew up in Buôn Ma Thuột in what was then
French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...
(now Vietnam). Ziemer was fluent in
Rade Rade may refer to: * E De people, a people group in Southeast Asia also called "Rhade" or "Rade" * places in Lower-Saxony, Germany: ** Rade, Neu Wulmstorf, a village in the district of Harburg * places in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany: ** Rade, Stei ...
, the local language. In 1968, as he was about to graduate from Wheaton College, his father and five other missionaries were killed, his mother was wounded, and the missionary compound was destroyed during a major battle connected to the
Tet Offensive The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the force ...
of the Vietnam War.


Navy career

Upon graduation from Wheaton College with a B.A. degree in history, Ziemer joined 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 ...
and became a Navy pilot. His first duty assignment was to fly helicopter gunships in South Vietnam with the Seawolves of
HA(L)-3 HA(L)-3, (Helicopter Attack Squadron (Light) 3), nicknamed the "Seawolves", was an all-volunteer squadron in the US Navy formed in support of Naval Special Warfare operations and Mobile Riverine Forces during the Vietnam War. Beginnings of the Na ...
. He flew 550 missions in support of
Navy SEALs The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting sm ...
and riverboat operations. Staying in the Navy, he moved up through the ranks. He commanded several squadrons and an air wing during the first Gulf War. On September 12, 1992, he became commander of
Mayport Naval Station Naval Station Mayport is a major United States Navy base in Jacksonville, Florida. It contains a protected harbor that can accommodate aircraft carrier-size vessels, ship's intermediate maintenance activity (SIMA) and a military airfield (Admi ...
. Ziemer also taught at the
Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associ ...
, and he served as deputy director for operations at the National Military Command Center (NMCC) on the
Joint Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the ...
J-3 directorate. His final assignment was as commander of
Navy Region Mid-Atlantic Navy Region Mid-Atlantic is one of eleven current naval regions responsible to Commander, Navy Installations Command for the operation and management of Naval shore installations in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, K ...
, headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, which provides shore support for the largest naval complex in the world.


Post-Navy career

Retiring from the Navy after 30 years, he became vice president of the Arlington Institute, a
think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...
specializing in
futures studies Futures studies, futures research, futurism or futurology is the systematic, interdisciplinary and holistic study of social and technological advancement, and other environmental trends, often for the purpose of exploring how people will l ...
. He then became the executive director of
World Relief World Relief (officially, World Relief Corporation of National Association of Evangelicals) is an Evangelical Christian humanitarian nongovernmental organization, the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals and a leading refug ...
, a global
evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
humanitarian organization An aid agency, also known as development charity, is an organization dedicated to distributing aid. Many professional aid organisations exist, both within government, between governments as multilateral donors and as private voluntary organizatio ...
focusing on disaster relief, maternal and child health, and HIV/AIDS programs. In 2006 President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
appointed him to lead the President's Malaria Initiative, which Bush had launched in 2005. This was an ambitious proposal to reduce the death toll from malaria in targeted African countries by 50%. Ziemer had contracted malaria himself as a child while living in French Indochina. In 2008, the program was expanded to additional countries in Africa as well as portions of Southeast Asia. He continued to serve as U.S. Global Malaria Coordinator until 2017. In his eleven years running the agency he established protocols for prevention and treatment that included "free distribution of insecticide-treated nets, indoor pesticide spraying, routine doses of malaria medicine for pregnant women, rapid blood tests for diagnosis, and a new fast-acting drug with one of the several longer-lasting drugs for treatment." During his tenure, worldwide malaria deaths dropped by 40%. In 2017, Ziemer joined President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
's National Security Council as Senior Director for Global Health Security and Biothreats. His responsibilities in the role included preparedness against infectious diseases, including leading the response in case of a pandemic and strategies for defense against biological weapons. On May 8, 2018, he unexpectedly left the post and his position was abolished by the newly appointed National Security Advisor
John Bolton John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006, and as the 26th United Sta ...
, in what Bolton described as part of a plan to streamline the National Security Council and merge duplicate offices.Kessler, Glenn and Kelly, Meg. (20 March 2020)
the White House office for global pandemics eliminated?
''Washington Post'' (March 20, 2020).
As part of the restructuring, the global health security directorate led by Ziemer was disbanded, and folded into a new directorate focusing on counterproliferation and biodefense. While several staffers of the former Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense remained at work in the new directorate or elsewhere in the NSC, the effect of the change was that there was "no single official at the highest levels of the administration who focuses only on global health security." Ziemer then served as an administrator in the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance within the
U.S. Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 ...
. In May 2020, he announced he would retire on June 5.


Awards

While on active duty, Ziemer received multiple awards of the Legion of Merit,
Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: * Meritorious Civilian Service Award *Meritorious Service Me ...
,
Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...
and
Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth ...
. Ziemer was awarded the 2015 Roger E. Joseph Prize by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion for his work on the President's Malaria Initiative. He was the commencement speaker for the
Georgetown University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is a graduate school at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., United States. Its offices are in the historic Car Barn building on the edge of campus. History The graduate program was first founded in ...
in May 2015 and received the honorary degree of
Doctor of Humane Letters The degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (; DHumLitt; DHL; or LHD) is an honorary degree awarded to those who have distinguished themselves through humanitarian and philanthropic contributions to society. The criteria for awarding the degree differ ...
. Ziemer also received the 2015 Distinguished Service to Society Award from the alumni association of his alma mater, Wheaton College.


Personal life

He is married to the former Jodi Evans, whom he has known since childhood; she was the daughter of missionaries stationed near Ziemer's family.


References


External links


RADM Tim Ziemer Looks Back at 10+ Years Leading PMI
(Interview with Ziemer on a
Center for Strategic and International Studies The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. CSIS was founded as the Center for Strategic and International Studies of Georgetown University in 1962. The center conducts polic ...
podcast on his last day as U.S. global malaria coordinator.) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ziemer, R. Timothy 1946 births Living people People from Sioux City, Iowa Wheaton College (Illinois) alumni United States Naval Aviators United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War Recipients of the Air Medal United States Navy personnel of the Gulf War Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States) Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Navy rear admirals (upper half) Military personnel from Iowa