Stephen D. Mull (born April 30, 1958) is a Senior Foreign Service officer who was most recently the Acting

Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs The Under Secretary for Political Affairs is currently the fourth-ranking position in the United States Department of State, after the secretary, the deputy secretary, and the deputy secretary of state for management and resources. The current und ...

. He previously served as United States Ambassador to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, Acting

Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs The Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs is a position within the U.S. Department of State that manages the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, charged with linking the Department of Defense and the Department of State ...

and United States Ambassador to

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. Ambassador Mull holds the rank of

Career Ambassador Career ambassador is a personal rank of Foreign Service Officers within the United States Department of State Senior Foreign Service. The rank of career ambassador is awarded by nomination of the President and confirmation by the United States Sen ...

, the highest diplomatic rank in the United States Foreign Service. On September 18, 2015, Mull was appointed as the United States Lead Coordinator for

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Nuclear Implementation, tasked with carrying out the terms of the

Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA; fa, برنامه جامع اقدام مشترک , barnāmeye jāme'e eqdāme moshtarak (, ''BARJAM'')), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal, is an agreement on the Iranian nuclear ...

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

Biography

Mull was born in

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Reddin'') is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 as of the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Philade ...

. He graduated from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise eleven undergraduate and graduate ...

with a Bachelor of Science degree in International Politics in 1980. Mull is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service in the

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...

of Career Ambassador. He previously served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital city, capital and list of Indonesian cities by population, largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coa ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

, and has served as a Consular or Political Officer for the U.S. Missions in Poland, the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...

, and South Africa since the beginning of his career in the Foreign Service in 1982. Prior to his assignment in Jakarta, Mull worked as Deputy Director of the State Department Operations Center, as Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

, as Director of the Office of Southern European Affairs in the

Bureau of European Affairs In the United States Government, the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs (EUR) is part of the United States Department of State, charged with implementing U.S. foreign policy and promoting U.S. interests in Europe and Eurasia (which it defin ...

, and as Deputy Executive Secretary in the Office of the Secretary of State. On March 10, 2003, then-U.S. President George W. Bush nominated Mull as the U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania. After being confirmed by the Senate, he assumed his position on August 26, 2003. He completed his tour of duty on July 18, 2006. On April 30, 2009, Mull testified before the

U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid p ...

on international efforts to combat piracy off the coast of

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...

. Mull is married to Cheri Stephan. The Mulls have one child, Ryan.

Ambassador to Poland

Stephen Mull was appointed the

United States Ambassador to Poland The history of ambassadors of the United States to Poland began in 1919. Until the end of World War I, Poland had been partitioned between Russia, Germany, and Austria-Hungary. After the war and the collapse of the empires, Poland became an ind ...

on October 24, 2012. He speaks Polish fluently.

Awards

* Director General's Award for Political Reporting, 1988 *

Superior Honor Award The Superior Honor Award is an award of the United States Department of State. Similar versions of the same award exist for the former U.S. Information Agency, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and USAID. It is presented to groups or individu ...

(four times) * Balker-Wilkins Award * Presidential Meritorious Service Award, 2003 *

Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland The Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Order Zasługi Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) is a Polish order of merit created in 1974, awarded to persons who have rendered great service to Poland. It is granted to foreigners or Poles resident a ...

(5th Class), 1997 *

Order for Merits to Lithuania The Order for Merits to Lithuania ( lt, Ordinas Už nuopelnus Lietuvai) is an award, presented by the President of Lithuania, which may be conferred on the citizens of Lithuania and foreign nationals for distinguished services promoting name of Lit ...

(3rd Class), 2006''Apdovanotų asmenų duomenų bazė''
/ref> *

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievemen ...

(2nd Class), 2015

References

External links

* , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mull, Stephen 1958 births Living people Ambassadors of the United States to Lithuania Ambassadors of the United States to Poland Georgetown University alumni Knights of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Obama administration personnel Politicians from Reading, Pennsylvania United States Assistant Secretaries of State United States Career Ambassadors United States Foreign Service personnel