William Andreas Brown (born September 7, 1930) served as the U.S. Ambassador to Thailand from 1985 to 1988 and

U.S. Ambassador to Israel The United States ambassador to Israel is the official representative of the president of the United States to the head of state of Israel. Until 1948 the area that is now the state of Israel had been under British administration as part of the ...

from 1988 to 1992. He also served as the last

Chief of mission In diplomatic usage, head of mission (HOM) or chief of mission (COM) from the French "chef de mission diplomatique" (CMD) is the head of a diplomatic representation, such as an ambassador, high commissioner, nuncio, chargé d'affaires, perman ...

(

Chargé d'affaires A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...

) of the U.S. Embassy to the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

(ROC) stationed in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

after the departure of Ambassador Leonard S. Unger in 1979. After diplomatic ties between Taipei and Washington severed, he remained on the island to set up the Taipei Main Office of the

American Institute in Taiwan The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT; ) is the ''de facto'' Embassy of the United States of America in Taiwan. The AIT institution is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the federal government of the United States in Taiwan with Congressional oversi ...

(AIT) at the former compound of U.S.

Military Assistance Advisory Group Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) is a designation for United States military advisors sent to other countries to assist in the training of conventional armed forces and facilitate military aid. Although numerous MAAGs operated around ...

(MAAG). He then served as the AIT's acting Director and deputy director (after the inauguration of

Charles T. Cross Charles Tenney "Chuck" Cross (May 4, 1922 – November 3, 2008) was an American career diplomat and ambassador who held many positions in American government around the world. He served as the United States Consulate General Hong Kong, U.S. Consul ...

, first AIT Director in Taipei). Brown was born in

Winchester, Massachusetts Winchester is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, located 8.2 miles (13.2 km) north of downtown Boston as part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. It is also one of the List of Massachusetts locations by per capita income, wealt ...

and grew up in East

Lexington, Massachusetts Lexington is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is 10 miles (16 km) from Downtown Boston. The population was 34,454 as of the 2020 census. The area was originally inhabited by Native Americans, and was firs ...

and graduated from

Lexington High School (Massachusetts) Lexington High School (LHS) is a public high school located in Lexington, Massachusetts, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grade. Campus Lexington High School's facilities are divided into four buildings. The Arts and H ...

. He majored in history at Harvard on a

Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps The Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) program is a college-based, commissioned officer training program of the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. Origins A pilot Naval Reserve unit was established in September 192 ...

scholarship and served as an artillery officer in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

from 1952 to 1954 and the reserves from 1954 to 1960."Nomination of William Andreas Brown To Be United States Ambassador to Israel"
''

Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is the repository of presidential records from the administration of Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, and the burial place of the president and first lady, Nancy Reagan. It is the larg ...

website'', May 20, 1988. Retrieved February 16, 2022. He was stationed in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

after the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

from August 1953 for about a year.

References

External links

U.S. State Department Archives (People)
1882 to 2008 * 1930 births Living people Ambassadors of the United States to Israel Ambassadors of the United States to Thailand Harvard College alumni Deputy Directors of the American Institute in Taiwan Lexington High School alumni People from Lexington, Massachusetts United States Marine Corps officers United States Marine Corps reservists {{US-diplomat-stub